Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Jemal Pasha - Kakuyids

Jemal PashaJemal Pasha (Cemal Pasa) (Ahmed Cemal Paşa) (b. May 6, 1872, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Tur.]—died July 21, 1922, Tiflis, Georgia, Transcaucasian S.F.S.R. [now Tbilisi, Georgia]).Young Turk soldier and statesman and a governor of Syria (1915-1918).From 1913 until the end of World War I, he formed, together with Enver Pasha and Tal‘at Pasha, the informal dictatorial triumvirate which ruled the Ottoman Empire.From his headquarters in Damascus, he reacted severely against political disaffection among the local Arab leaders.In 1918, he fled to Berlin and Switzerland.From Moscow, he facilitated the diplomatic contacts between the Bolsheviks and Kemalist regimes.

Cemal Paşa was a Turkish army officer and a leading member of the Ottoman government during World War I.

Cemal joined the secret Committee of Union and Progress while a staff officer, becoming a member of the military administration after the Revolution of 1908. A forceful provincial governor, he was made head of security forces in Istanbul and then minister of public works. When World War I broke out, Cemal was, with Talat Paşa and Enver Paşa, one of the government’s most influential men. After attempting unsuccessfully to invade Egypt, he was made governor of Syria, and he persecuted the Armenian minority there. After the war he served the new Turkish republic until his assassination by an Armenian nationalist.

Cemal Pasa see Jemal PashaAhmed Cemal Pasa see Jemal Pasha

Jenghiz KhanJenghiz Khan (Genghis Khan) (Chinggis Khan) (Temujin) (1162/1167-1227).Mongol commander and conqueror who became the ruler of most of Asia.His original name “Temujin” was changed into that of Jenghiz Khan or “Universal Ruler” when he was acclaimed khan by the Mongol princes.

Jenghiz Khan was born with the name of Temujin near Lake Baikal (now in the USSR), the son of Yesukai (Yesugai), a Mongol chief and ruler of a large region between the Amur River and the Great Wall of China.His father was murdered by a rival tribe when Temujin was only eight years old.His mother thus assumed the principal responsibility of teaching Temujin the skills he needed to be a Mongol chief.He owed some of his proficiency in hunting and warfare to her.The most important principle she taught him was that he needed to create a network of loyal friends and allies in order to increase his power and to do battle against his enemies.Early in his career, he began to develop such a coterie of associates; one explanation for his ultimate success in unifying the Mongols was that he was adept at forging alliances with influential leaders.

At the age of 13, Temujin succeeded his father as tribal chief.His early reign was marked by successive revolts of his subject tribes and an intense struggle to retain his leadership, but the Mongol ruler soon demonstrated his military genius and conquered not only his intractable subjects but his hostile neighbors as well.Temujin cooperated with his allies in campaigning against other tribes, but his standard practice was to turn against his allies when he no longer needed them.After all, Temujin wanted to be the ruler and the unifier of the Mongols, not simply one member of a coalition.During his rise to power, he attacked, captured, and executed his “sworn brother” Jamukha and his first patron, the Ong Khan.Throughout the 1180s and 1190s, he assembled a trustworthy private army -- his nokod -- which he rewarded by dividing among them the spoils that accrued from their campaigns.

By the beginning of the thirteenth century, Temujin was ready to challenge the more important Mongol tribes.He first crushed the Tartars who had murdered his father.Then he defeated, in rapid succession, the Kereit, the Naiman, and the Merkid.

By 1206, Temujin was master of almost all of Mongolia.In that year, a convocation of the subjugated tribes gathered together at an assembly (known as a khuriltai) and proclaimed Temujin “Jenghiz Khan” (Chinese, cheng-sze, “precious warrior;” Turkish, khan, “lord”), leader of the united Mongol and Tatar tribes.Kocochu, the leading shaman among the Mongols, challenged Jenghiz’s supremacy, but Jenghiz won the battle and ordered his loyal aides to execute Kocochu by breaking the shaman’s back.Thereafter, the city of Karakorum was designated as Jenghiz’s capital.

The khan then began his conquest of China. Jenghiz first attacked the Tanguts, who had established a Chinese-style dynasty, the Xixia, and who controlled northwest China.Commercial disputes and Jenghiz’s desire to dominate the trade routes to the West inevitably led to war.

By 1208, Jenghiz had established a foothold inside the Great Wall and, by 1209, the Tanguts submitted and pledged to offer tribute to the Mongols, even though they had not been completely subdued.

Conflicts over trade gave rise also to a war with the Jurchen (Juchen Chin), who ruled North China as the Jin (Kin) dynasty (1122-1234).In 1213, Jenghiz led his armies south and west into the area dominated by the Jin dynasty, not stopping until he reached the Shantung Peninsula.In 1215, his armies captured the Jin capital, Yenking (Yanjing, now Peking), the last Chin stronghold in northern China.With this victory, the Mongols proved themselves capable of besieging and occupying towns.

Jenghiz’s next military engagement is often portrayed as a reaction to the provocation of his opponent.In 1216, Jenghiz sent an embassy and a trading caravan to the Khwaramian shah Ala al-Din Muhammad, who governed much of Central Asia.One of the shah’s officials killed the merchants.When Jenghiz learned of the fate of his men, he sent a second embassy demanding that the shah hand over his official for punishment.Instead, the shah executed the unfortunate envoys, and Jenghiz was handed an excellent pretext for the declaration of war.To all outward appearances, the shah had provoked the conflict that was about to erupt.Jenghiz made elaborate and detailed preparations before embarking on the campaign.In 1219, leading about 200,000 troops, many of whom were non-Mongols who had decided to ally themselves with Jenghiz, Jenghiz set forth for Central Asia.By this time, his soldiers had become adept at besieging towns.Employing catapults, which could hurl enormous rocks at the enemy, they devastated one town after another.In 1220, they entered and sacked the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, and within a year they occupied Balkh, Merv, and Nishapur.The destruction and the loss of life were, according to the Persian chroniclers staggering.Jenghiz inflicted a stiff penalty for the murder of his envoys.The shah died in 1221, and his son Jalal al-Din fled to North India accompanied by a small detachment.

Proceeding onward, in what are now northern India and West Pakistan, the Mongol invaders conquered the cities of Peshawar and Lahore and the surrounding countryside.In 1222, they marched into Russia and plundered the region between the Volga and Dnepr River and from the Persian Gulf almost to the Arctic Ocean.

Jenghiz remained in Central Asia from 1222 to 1225, but his underlings conducted campaigns in other areas.Jebe and Subotei briefly occupied Tiflis (in Georgia) and reached all the way to the Crimean Sea before rejoining Jenghiz.Mukhali persisted in attacking the tottering Jin dynasty.Another of Jenghiz’s armies coerced the Korean king into submitting tribute.From the time of his investiture as khan of the Mongols in 1206, Jenghiz had expanded the territory under Mongol control enormously.

However, the Tanguts, the first group Jenghiz had subjugated, were now uncooperative.They refused to accede to Jenghiz’s demands that they send troops for his forays into Central Asia.Their ruler also refused to send his son as a hostage to the Mongols.Jenghiz was determined to punish them for their insolence.In 1226, he headed for Ningxia, the Tangut capital.This campaign turned out to be his last, for he died in August of 1227 without having pacified the Tanguts.The body of the dead khan was transported to Burkhan Khaldun (“Buddha Cliff”), a mountain range in northeast Mongolia.He was buried there in 1229 with forty young women. Forty horses were sacrificed at his tomb.The Mongols deliberately concealed the precise location of his burial site to stymie grave robbers.

The greatness of Jenghiz Khan as a military leader was borne out not only by his conquests but by the excellent organization, discipline, and maneuverability of his armies.Much of Jenghiz’s success lay in his military organization and tactics.His army was divided into groups of one thousand, each of which constituted a chiliarchy with each chiliarchy being headed by a nobleman known as a noyan.This new organization was designed to undermine the authority of the old clan and tribal leaders, who would be superceded by the noyan.The noyan levied taxes, raised the military forces, and, most important, obeyed Jenghiz’s commands.Jenghiz also selected an imperial guard -- a keshigden -- from the aristocratic families of Mongolia and assigned them responsible positions in civil and especially military affairs.He thus created a new nobility that was loyal to him.The campaigns that he and his noyan initiated were meticulously planned.Tactics and strategy were carefully worked out to capitalize on the information about the enemy obtained from spies and allies.His troops consisted primarily of cavalry, who had the advantage of mobility.He sought an edge over his enemies through the use of psychological terror.His deliberate massacres so frightened his opponents that they often surrendered without putting up a fight.The actual massacres he condoned have led later historians to exaggerate his ruthlessness and savagery.However, there is no proof that Jenghiz Khan planned to conquer the world; one military campaign simply led to another.

There is no single satisfactory explanation for the sudden eruption of the Mongols.The gradual desiccation of Mongolia; the decline in the mean annual temperature, which led to a shorter growing season and thus less grass; the reluctance of the dynasty in China to trade and thus to provide essential goods to the Mongols; and Jenghiz’s own ambitions have all been suggested as possible reasons for the Mongol conquests.

However, in addition to his miltary acumen, the Mongol ruler was also an admirable statesman.His empire was so well organized that, so it was claimed, travelers could go from one end of his domain to the other without fear or danger.At his death, on August 18, 1227, the Mongol Empire was divided among his three sons.Jenghiz bequeathed not only a vast territory to his descendants but also policies that were to prove invaluable in ruling the diverse ethnic, religious, and national groups in the domains he had conquered.One of his most important legacies was his policy of religious toleration.He recognized that good relations with the religious potentates in a region facilitated Mongol control over its inhabitants.His principal interest was to use religion to help him govern.However, he was also eager to meet with learned men and talk about different religions with them.Having heard that the Daoists had developed an elixir of immortality, he invited Changchun, one of their leaders, to his camp in Central Asia.Changchun disabused him of that view, responding, “I have means of protecting life, but no elixir that will prolong it.”Despite this disappointment, Jenghiz did not withdraw his invitation.In fact, he was so delighted with his guest that he exempted Changchun’s pupils and Daoist monks in general from taxation.Similarly, Jenghiz was generous to Islam, Nestorian Christianity, and the other foreign religions he encountered.

Jenghiz’s toleration extended not only to different religions but also to different ethnic groups and nationalities.He placed quite a few foreigners in influential positions in government because he realized that the Mongols lacked the administrative skills to rule a great empire.He recruited a sinicized Khitan official named Yelu Chucai to devise plans for an administrative structure.He ordered a Turk named Ta-ta Tong-a to adapt the Uighur Turkic script to provide a written language for the Mongols.He employed Uighurs as tutors for his sons, advisers, secretaries, and interpreters.During his own lifetime, Jenghiz did not truly develop a sophisticated administration, but he laid the foundations for his descendants to do so.He also promoted commerce, from which his descendants also profited handsomely.

One of Jenghiz’s most enduring legacies to his successors was the Jasagh, a series of rules that is often cited as the first Mongol law code.His descendants added to and amended the Jasagh, but most of the laws refer to early Mongol society and appear to mirror Jenghiz’s own views.They reflect the mores and customs of a nomadic society.There are no provisions concerning ownership of land, the rights and duties of tenants, or the inheritance of property; the specifics of the tax structure are not described; and commerce is not mentioned.Instead, the edicts emphasize the concerns of a pastoral society.They provide for capital punishment for horse thieves, inflict severe punishments on soldiers who did not perform their duties properly, and prohibit the washing of clothes.

On the other hand, a few of the pronouncements in the Jasagh reflect the new responsibilities and concerns imposed upon the Mongols by their conquests.It officially prohibits religious discrimination and forbids favoritism toward any specific foreign sect.It exhibits a desire for a more centralized military and political organization that was essential in ruling the new domains.Jenghiz, through these orders, mandated the decimal system of organizing the army.Mongol troops were divided into units of tens, thousands, and ten thousands, each with its own commander.The commanders, in turn, were obliged to carry out the orders of the khan.Even the most important commanders were to follow the dictates of the khan.

The lack of a precise and orderly means of succession proved to be the Mongol’s undoing.An assemblage of the leading Mongol nobles convened to elect the new khan.In theory, the most talented or oldest chieftain was selected as the khan.Jenghiz himself had four sons from his principal wife, Borte.Jochi, the oldest son (c.1184-1227), may not have been Jenghizi’s son since Borte had been kidnapped and raped by Jenghiz’s enemies and Jochi was born just a few months after Jenghiz had rescued Borte.Nevertheless, Jenghiz accepted Jochi as his son, although their relationship was fraught with tension.Thus, Jochi was not considered as a candidate for the succession.

Chagatai, the second son (c. 1185-1242), was a fierce warrior and a stern upholder of Mongol traditions.Chagatai’s repressive acts earned him the wrath of Persian historians.They characterized him as “a tyrannical man, cruel, sanguinary, and an evil-doer.”Chagatai’s lack of toleration and his severity ruled him out as the sovereign of a great empire that governed a diversity of peoples and tribes.

Jenghiz’s youngest son, Tolui (c. 1190-1231 [1232?]), might have seemed the logical choice to succeed his father as the khan.He was probably the most accomplished of Jenghiz’s sons in warfare, but he was a rough-and-tumble military man who did not have the administrative skills to govern a great empire.Tolui’s son Kublai (1215-1294) later became the great khan and established Mongol rule in China.The third son, Ogedei (1186-1241), was flexible, tolerant, and conciliatory, and recognized that a civilian government was needed to rule the Mongol empire.Ogedei was clearly the optimal choice for the khanate, and sources written much later indicate that Jenghiz chose Ogedei as his successor.Even with such an anointment, two years elapsed before Ogedei was selected as the khan, as it appears that Tolui challenged him.However, Jenghiz’s choice seems to have tipped the scales in Ogedei’s favor, although the lack of an orderly system of succession inevitably provoked conflicts later and finally led to the destruction of Jenghiz’s empire.

Abdullah Cevdet was an Ottoman intellectual and a medical doctor by profession.He was of Kurdish descent. He was also a poet, translator, radical free-thinker and an ideologist of the Young Turks who led the Westernization movement in the Ottoman Empire from 1908 until 1918.

Cevdet was influenced by materialistic philosophies of the West and antagonistic towards institutionalized religion. He published articles on socio-religious, political, economic and literary issues in the periodical İctihad, which he founded in 1904 in Geneva and used to promote his modernist thoughts and enlighten the Muslim masses. He was arrested and expelled from his country several times due to his political activities and lived in Europe (e.g. London, Paris).

The overall goal of Young Turks such as Cevdet was to bring to an end the despotic regime of Sultan Abdülhamid II. For this purpose, Cevdet and 4 other medical students at the Military Medical Academy in Istanbul founded the secret "Committee of Union and Progress" (CUP) in 1889. Initially with no political agenda, it became politicized by several leaders and factions and mounted a revolution against Abdülhamid in 1908. However, Abdullah Cevdet was not politically involved in the CUP but promoted his secular ideas until his death.

He was also involved in several Kurdish organizations formed after the 1908 revolution. He wrote of the Kürd Teavün ve Tarakki newspaper as well as the two journals published by the Kürd Hevi organization. Prior to the First World War, his involvement with the Kurdish associations did not contradict his Ottomanism. However, after 1918, he took part in the Kürdistan Teali organization which did in fact advocate Kurdish self rule.

He was tried a few times because some of his writings were considered as blasphemy against Islam and the prophet Muhammad. For this reason he was labelled as the "eternal enemy of Islam" (Süssheim, EI) and called "Aduvullah" (the enemy of God). Probably his most famous court case was due to his praising the Bahá'í Faith in his article in İctihad on March 1, 1922.Abdullah Cevdet was one of the intellectuals who influenced Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in his reforms of secularization in Turkey.

JewsJews (Yahud).The Qur’an speaks of Jews as “those to whom the scripture was given,” as “the Children of Israel” (in Arabic, Banu Isra‘il) and as “the descendants of Abraham.”Revelation is considered to have been granted them through Moses, and they have been given many clear signs, but, as with the Christians, they have distorted the sense of the words of the scriptures.They were invited to believe in Allah, in the Last Judgment and in the Prophet’s mission, but they refused and finally were regarded, with the idolaters, as the greatest enemies of the Believers.

Jews comprise the third largest religious group in the Middle East.There are about five million adherents, about ninety percent of whom live in Israel.

Central in the Jewish belief is that there is only one God, and that there is a special pact between God and the Jews.Jews are obliged to observe the Law given by God.The purpose of this pact is to bring the world forward to the point where the Messiah arrives in order to recreate order and stability in the world, with Jerusalem and Israel as the center.

Judaism is a term that is often used to refer to the whole tradition of the religion of the Jews.This is inaccurate, as there was a drastic shift in the religion in the early first millennium B.C.T., when true monotheism was established.It is from this time that the religion got its name, from the land of the Hebrews, Judah: Judaism.

Judaism was surpassed only by the religion of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism as the first monotheistic religions in the world.However, Judaism was a religion before monotheism took hold, with a complex yet purified image of deities.It has often been suggested that Akhenaten’s religion and Zoroastrianism have influenced the monotheistic development of Judaism.

Even if the schisms of Judaism have been less dramatic and profound than in some of the other important religions of the Middle East, there are, nevertheless, numerous orientations inside the religion.Some of the most heated discussions have come in modern times, where some orientations have wanted to adjust to the society, while others have claimed that the regulations of Judaism should remain unchanged.

The largest community of Jews live in the United States with about six million adherents.Many others live in Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and there are between 200,000 and 300,000 on the African continent.

The largest communities in the Middle East are in Israel and Palestine.Israel is the only Jewish state in the world.

Almost all countries in the Middle East once had Jewish communities.However, since the establishment of the state of Israel, large percentages have emigrated.Today, only Morocco, Iran and Turkey have significant Jewish communities of some size.

There is a rich tradition for texts in Judaism, which have been developed over a period of between 2,000 and 3,000 years.While the core texts have remained unchanged, interpretations and explanations have been added to the great body of material that is now revered by most Jews.

The central core of all Jewish learning is the Tanakh, which includes the Torah and which more or less corresponds to the Christian Old Testament.The other major work of Judaism is the Talmud, which has two parts: the oral law and its interpretations.The Talmud was completed in the middle of the fifth century B.C.T.

The central theme of Judaism is the covenant between the Jews and God.The covenant was first made with Abraham, from whom the Jewish believe they are descended.This covenant was renewed with Abraham’s son Isaac, and Abraham’s grandson Jacob.The covenant was extended as Moses was given the Ten Commandments and other laws.From this, the Jews learned how they should lead their lives.The covenant implies that the Jews are a chosen people, giving them certain privileges as well as certain responsibilities.

Judaism is a religion of “waiting,” waiting for the Messiah, the God sent ruler who would liberate the Jews and bring back justice and security to the earth.The ideas of the Messiah have gone through changes, and while some Jewish groups still wait for the Messiah’s coming, other groups have come to interpret the Messiah as being mainly symbolic.For this latter interpretation, cooperation between peoples will bring forth a Messianic age.

Judaism has a rich tradition of festivals.While the main festival is the weekly Sabbath, other festivals are performed only once a year, while some occur only once in a lifetime.

According to their traditions, Jews pray three times a day: morning prayer is called shaharith; afternoon prayer is called minhah; and evening prayer is called maarib.These times are set in remembrance of the schedule of sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 C.C.

Throughout the day, Jews will recite numerous benedictions, before doing certain actions, both religious and secular.This has its background in the doctrine that everything in nature and all incidents have their origin with God.

In Conservative and Orthodox congregations, there are daily services.Reform Judaism limits this to the Sabbath and festivals.During these services, the rabbi reads a section from the Torah and prayers are chanted from the Siddur (prayer book).Over one year, the congregation will have read through the entire Torah.

The main feast for many Jews is the Sabbath celebrated from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon, every week.The different Jewish groups have the same core celebration, but they differ much in the level of complexity and strictness.For some Jews, no secular activity is allowed, while others allow themselves to perform normal activities beyond the core celebration.

There are many colorful and important feasts in Judaism.All Jews are supposed to fast on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.Yom Kippur is part of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most holy days of the year for Jews.

The light feast of Chanukah is held in remembrance of the re-dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C.T.Chanukah corresponds in time with the Christian Christmas, and many Jews have adopted elements from the Christmas celebration in their private Chanukah celebrations.

Sukkoth and Pesach, Jewish Easter, are two celebrations close in their content.Pesach is a celebration held in remembrance of when the Jews were allowed to leave Egypt after 400 years, while Sukkoth remembers the Exodus and the 40 years of wandering in Sinai.

A third festival in remembrance of the Exodus is Shavuoth.Shavuoth remembers the giving of the Law to Moses.

The most joyous Jewish festival is Purim, which commemorates the salvation of the Jews from destruction at the hands of a Persian king in the first millennium B.C.T.

Each Jewish family has their own celebrations on the anniversary of the deceased in the family.On this day, they recite the prayer Kaddish and burn a candle.

When a Jewish boy is eight days old, he is circumcised by the rabbi.This is a symbol of belonging to the pact between God and Abraham.Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls marks the entering upon adulthood for boys age 13 and girls age 12.

Marriage is not very religious in Judaism in terms of regulations, even though it is considered to be a sacred arrangement.Nevertheless, marriage is always celebrated inside the Jewish community and in conjunction with the synagogue.

When a Jew dies, he or she is buried as soon as possible.Then the family starts a seven day mourning period called Shiva.During this period they recite the prayer Kaddish.

There are a number of dietary regulations imposed on Jews which seem quite complex when viewed from the outside.According to the dietary rules, pork and shellfish like shrimp and oysters cannot be eaten.Animals are to be killed by a ritual slaughter called shehitah in which the throat is cut and the animal is allowed to bleed to death while still being conscious.There are also regulations on how food should be stored.For instance, milk and meat should be kept separately.

Food collected or slaughtered, and then prepared in accordance with Jewish law is called Kosher.Strict observance of Kosher is considered a sign of faith by most Jews.

Judaism is not headed by a single authority.The main figure of every congregation is the rabbi, who is learned in the Torah.His or her position corresponds much to that of the priest in Christianity.The rabbi is elected by the members of the congregation.The rabbi can be a woman in Reform and Conservative congregations, but not in Orthodox.

During services, there is a cantor who chants the prayers.The cantor is often a person who has undergone special training for this position.The congregation gathers in a synagogue, which is often both a sanctuary for religious services and a place for religious education and community activities.In Orthodox congregations, men and women sit separate, but together in Reform and Conservative congregations.

In many cases, Jews perform their rituals in the home as well.This involves daily prayers, Sabbath rituals and some of the yearly festivals.There is no form of mission activity prevalent in Judaism.However, the religion is open for conversion, although only under special circumstances.

There are two ways of dividing Jews today.One way is according to historical and geographical background with the Ashkenazi coming from northern, central and eastern Europe, while the Sephardi come from the Iberian peninsula and North Africa.

The other way of dividing Jews stems from their conduct of their religious lives.The modern division along these lines are Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox.Reform Jews tend to be liberal and open to varying interpretations of Judaism.Orthodox Jews have a more fundamentalist and rigid interpretation of Judaism.Orthodox Jews tend to be negative towards elements of modern society.Conservative Jews practice their faith in a manner that is closer to Orthodox Jews than to Reform Jews.However, their attitudes towards modern society tend not to be as negative as those of the Orthodox Jews.

Due to its discontinuation during the Jewish Diaspora, Judaism has developed relatively fewer holy places than Christianity and Islam.Most of the sacred places of Judaism date back between 2,000 to 4,000 years ago.Because of the diaspora, the Jewish mentality has focused on themes of exile and migration.Many Jews have felt in exile when living in European countries, and many have known that their future in one spot cannot always be taken for granted.

Nevertheless, Jerusalem is clearly the most holy place in Judaism,For Jews, Jerusalem is more important than any place is for Christians, and is just as important as Mecca is for Muslims.It is mainly because of the destroyed Temple that Jerusalem has become so important to Jewish identity.The only remaining part of it, the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall as it is called, is the holiest place on earth.

The second most holy place is Hebron, Palestine, where Abraham was buried.Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, is also important, but is not central to Jewish life.

For many Jews, the synagogue, in Jerba, Tunisia, is considered to be the oldest synagogue in Africa and is therefore sacred.

A brief history of the Jewish people reads as follows:

Around 1900 B.C.T., a certain religious orientation, where one god was more important than other gods, began to slowly develop.This came with the development of a people identifying themselves with words close to “Hebrew” or “Israel”.

Around 1300 B.C.T., a new orientation in the religion of the Hebrews occurred with the development of the Mosaic Covenant.With this, the complexity of rituals and obligations reached a new level in the religion.The idea of just worshiping one God was presented but did not, at that time, become a part of the religious life.Even among ancient theologians, there was an acceptance of the gods of other peoples.However, for the Hebrews, there was only YHWH (vowels were not written in Hebrew, thus the two main pronunciations of God’s name were Yahweh (Jahveh) and Jehovah).

Around 1200 B.C.T., Hebrews settled in Canaan.There they would slowly grow into an important political force in the region.

Around 1000 B.C.T., the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, hence making this the center of the Hebrew religion.

Around 950 B.C.T., the first Temple of Jerusalem was constructed by King Solomon.

Around 800 B.C.T., with the development of the religion of the Hebrews, Israel in the north broke away from Judah in the south.

In 722 B.C.T., Israel, the northern Jewish kingdom, was conquered by Assyria.

In 605 B.C.T., Judah, the southern Jewish kingdom, was conquered by Babylonia, and a great number of its inhabitants were taken into exile by the Babylonians.

In 586 B.C.T., Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple razed.The Israelis were exiled.

In 538 B.C.T., the Jews (the name had established itself even for those of Israeli origin) are allowed to return to their lands by King Cyrus the Great of Persia.

In 515 B.C.T., the second Temple of Jerusalem was completed.

During the middle of the fifth century B.C.T., King Artaxerxes of Persia declared the Torah to be the law of the Jews.

In 168 B.C.T., Antiochus IV banned Judaism.

In 166 B.C.T., the Maccabean revolt, led by Judas Maccabaeus, who fought to win back Jewish rights.

In 163 B.C.T., Judas Maccabaeus succeeded in obtaining religious freedom for the Jews, but continues to fight for creating an independent kingdom for the Jews.

In 160 B.C.T., Judas Maccabaeus was killed, and the Maccabean revolt came to an end.

During the second half of the second century B.C.T., the Torah was translated into Greek.During this time, there was also a split in Judaism, between the supporters of the Written Law, the Sadduccees, and the supporters of the Oral Law, the Pharisees.

In 63 B.C.T., the land of the Jews was captured by the Roman Empire.

Between 30 and 40 of the Christian calendar, the religious revolutionary Jesus tried to reform Judaism, but failed.Instead a new religious orientation, at first Jesus-Judaism, later Christianity emerges.

In 66 C.C., a Jewish revolt against the Romans and their restrictions on Judaism occurred in Palestine.

In 70 C.C., the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed for the second time, and the revolt was suppressed.

During the first century of the Christian calendar, contrary to what many seem to believe, the Jews were not driven out of Palestine, but Jerusalem was closed for Jews, and turned into a military colony.By this, the Jews had no chance of practicing their religion close to their ritual center, and many chose instead to settle in other parts of the Roman Empire.

Around 200 C.C., the oral traditions of Judaism began to be compiled by Jewish scholars, like Judah ha-Nasi and these traditions had interpretations added to them.

During the fifteenth century of the Christian calendar, due to geographical differences, the Jews of the Iberian peninsula and North Africa started orienting themselves in a different direction than the Jews of northern, central and eastern Europe.The first branch came to be known as Sephardi, the second as Ashkenazi.

Around 1800, a process of enlightenment took place among Ashkenazi Jews, resulting in Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism.

In 1938, organized persecutions of Jews in German controlled areas started (after the start of World War II in 1939, the German controlled area came to cover large parts of Europe).Many Jews were killed.

In 1942, industrialized killing of Jews and other groups, began.Over the next three years, some 5.7 million Jews were killed.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Jews managed to garner great sympathy from Europe and North America and thereafter obtained support for their own country in Palestine.

In 1948, with the establishment of the state of Israel, the Jews achieved a homeland state.Israel became a country that gave protection for all citizens, but it was defined as a Jewish state.Organized immigration began, allowing Jews from Africa, Asia and Europe in particular to settle in the new state.Around this time, politics in Europe changed, giving Jews full civil rights protection.

Yahud see JewsChildren of Israel see JewsThose to Whom the Scripture was Given see JewsBanu Isra'il see JewsDescendants of Abraham see Jews

Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan PashaJeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha(Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha) (Hasan Pasha of Algiers) (1713-1790).Grand Vizier and one of the most famous Grand Admirals of the Turkish navy.

Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier, Kaptan Pasha and an army commander of the late 18th century.

He is known to have been bought as a slave in eastern Turkey by a Turkish merchant of Tekirdağ, who raised him in that city considering him on a par with his own sons.

He rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military hierarchy and was for a time with the Barbary Coast pirates based in Algiers (thence his name, Cezayirli meaning from Algiers in Turkish). He was a fleet commander during the Naval Battle of Chesma and could extirpate the forces depending on him from the general disaster for the Turkish navy there. He arrived at the Ottoman capital with the bad news, but was highly praised for his own accomplishment and was promoted, first as chief of staff and later as grand vizier. He dislodged the Russian navy which had established a base in the Aegean island of Limni (Lemnos).

Anecdotal evidence indicates that, immediately after the defeat in Çeşme, he and his men were lodged by a local priest in Ayvalık who did not know who they were. Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown at that hour of crisis and later accorded virtual autonomy to the Greek-dominated town of Ayvalık, paving the way for its becoming an important cultural center for that community in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

The defeat of Çeşme prompted Hasan Pasha to establish the Turkish Naval Academy in 1773.

In the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1791, Hasan Pasha, then 85, was commanding the Turkish troops in the beginning of the campaigns and was killed in combat in 1790.

The statue of Hasan Pasha garnishes today the resort town of Çeşme, along with that of the lion that he had domesticated while in Africa and that he took along with him everywhere, creating quite an impression.

Hasan, Jeza'irli Ghazi see Jeza’irli Ghazi Hasan Pasha

JinnJinn (Djinn) (Genie) (Jinni).Invisible creatures living on earth.The jinn are capable of doing good or evil.The jinn were thought to be composed of vapors or flames.

Jinn is an Arabic word which literally means “demons.”The jinn are a group of beings created from smokeless fire (men and angels, on the other hand, were created from clay and light).According to some, the jinn can change their size and shape; can help or harm people; and are capable of receiving salvation or damnation, since the Qur’an was sent to them as well as to humans.In pre-Islamic Arabia, the jinn were thought to be a class of minor deities related in some way to Allah and which existed to assist Allah.Muslims generally have accepted the existence of jinn since they are mentioned several times in the Qur’an and since relations between men and the jinn have been discussed in Islamic law -- in shari'a -- with regards to matters like marriage and inheritance.Legal scholars have debated the status of the jinn under religious law, and early Muslim scientists speculated about the physics of their nature.

Iblis (Satan) is reckoned to be one of the jinn.However, Iblis is also deemed to be an angel.Some commentators have meshed this dichotomy and have deemed the jinn to be a “tribe” of angels.

The jinn would listen to what was said in heaven but were fended off by meteors.The jinn worked for Solomon.Post-Qur’anic commentaries join these ideas with elements of folklore, and stories about the jinn and their relations with humans abound throughout the Islamic world.Most familiar to the West are the stories that are found in the Arabian Nights.

The word jinn has been adopted in most languages where Islam predominates and has replaced the names for evil spirits.The jinn came to play an important role in Arabic, Turkish, Indian and Indonesian folklore.

Jinn were evidently thought to be able to possess a person, making the person majnun -- “crazy or possessed.”Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad was accused of being majnun by his detractors.

In Arabic, a genie (or jinn, Djinn, or jinnī) is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of God (Allah). According to the Qur'an, there are two creations that have free will: humans and jinns (djinns). We do not know much details about them, however the Qur'an mentions that jinns are made of 'smokeless fire' and they form communities just like humans and just like humans, they can be good or evil.

The Jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an, and there is a Surah entitled Al-Jinn. While Christian tradition suggests that Lucifer was an angel that rebelled against God's orders, Islam maintains that Iblis was a Djinn who had been granted special privilege to live amongst angels prior to his rebellion. After the rebellion, he was granted a respite to lead humans astray until the Day of Judgment. However, Iblis has no power to mislead true believers in God. Although some scholars have ruled that it is apostasy to disbelieve in one of God's creations, the belief in Jinn has fallen comparably to the belief in angels in other Abrahamic traditions.

Djinn see JinnGenie see JinnJinni see Jinn

Jinnah, FatimaJinnah, Fatima (Fatima Jinnah) (Khatun-e Pakistan) (Mader-e Millat) (July 30, 1893 — July 8, 1967).Youngest sister of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.After becoming a dentist in 1922, she opened a clinic in Bombay.She moved into her brother’s house after the death of this wife and remained his constant companion until his death in 1948.Her main contribution to the Pakistan Movement was giving up her clinic in order to take charge of Jinnah’s household, enabling him to devote his time to public life.After Jinnah’s death, although she remained politically active, she always championed the cause of democracy, women’s rights, refugees, and the underprivileged. In 1965, she ran in the presidential election against Ayub Khan as a candidate of the Combined Opposition Parties, but lost.The electors who made up the electoral college were Basic Democrats, who were highly amenable to official persuasion.

Fatima Jinnah was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and an active political figure in the movement for independence from the British Raj. She is commonly known in Pakistan as Khātūn-e Pākistān (Urdu: — "Lady of Pakistan") and Māder-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation.") She was born in Karachi, (in the part of British India that later became Pakistan). She was an instrumental figure in the Pakistan movement and the primary organiser of the All India Muslim Women Students Federation. After the formation of Pakistan and the death of her brother, she remained an active member of the nation's politics. She continued to work for the welfare of the Pakistani people until she died in Karachi on July 8, 1967.

Fatima Jinnah was born in Karachi, British India on July 30, 1893. Jinnah's parents, Poonja Jinnahbhai and Mithibai Jinnahbhai, had seven children: Muhammad Ali, Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, Rahmat Ali, Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Of a family of seven brothers and sisters, she was the closest to Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Her illustrious brother became her guardian upon the death of their father in 1901. She joined the Bandra Convent in Bombay in 1902. In 1919, she was admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she attended the Dr. R. Ahmed Dental College. After she graduated, she opened a dental clinic in Bombay in 1923.

Jinnah lived with her brother until 1918, when he married Rattanbai Petit. Upon Rattanbai's death in February 1929, Jinnah closed her clinic, moved into her brother Muhammad Ali Jinnah's bungalow, and took charge of his house. This began the life-long companionship that lasted until her brother's death on September 11, 1948.

During the transfer of power in 1947, Jinnah formed the Women's Relief Committee, which later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA). She also played a significant role in the settlement of Muhajirs in the new state of Pakistan.

In the 1960s, Jinnah returned to the forefront of political life when she ran for the presidency of Pakistan as a candidate for the Combined Opposition Party of Pakistan (COPP). She described her opponent, Ayub Khan, as a dictator. Her early rallies nearly 250,000 people turned out to see her in Dhaka, and a million lined the 293 mile route from there to Chittagong. Her train, called the Freedom Special, was 22 hours late because men at each station pulled the emergency cord, and begged her to speak. The crowds hailed her as the mother of the nation.

In her rallies Jinnah argued that, by coming to terms with India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers to India. Jinnah lost the election, but only narrowly, winning a majority in some provinces. The election did not conform to international standards and journalists, as well as subsequent historians, have often suggested it was rigged in favor of Ayub Khan.

Fatima Jinnah, popularly acclaimed as the Madar-i-Millat, or "Mother of the Nation" for her role in the Freedom Movement, contested the 1965 elections at the age of 71. Except for her brief tour to East Pakistan in 1954, she had not participated in politics since Independence. After the imposition of Martial Law by Ayub Khan, she once wished the regime well. But after the Martial Law was lifted, she sympathized with the opposition as she was strongly in favor of democratic ideals. Being the Quaid's sister, she was held in high esteem, and came to symbolize the democratic aspirations of the people. The electoral landscape changed when Fatima Jinnah decided to contest the elections for the President's office in 1965. She was challenging the incumbent President Ayub Khan in the indirect election, which Ayub Khan had himself instituted. Presidential candidates for the elections of 1965 were announced before commencement of the Basic Democracy elections, which was to constitute the Electoral College for the Presidential and Assembly elections. There were two major parties contesting the election. The Convention Muslim League and the Combined Opposition Parties. The Combined Opposition Parties consisted of five major opposition parties. It had a nine-point program, which included restoration of direct elections, adult franchise and democratization of the 1962 Constitution. The opposition parties of Combined Opposition Parties were not united and did not possess any unity of thought and action. They were unable to select presidential candidates from amongst themselves; therefore they selected Fatima Jinnah as their candidate.

Elections were held on January 2, 1965. There were four candidates; Ayub Khan, Fatima Jinnah and two obscure persons with no party affiliation. There was a short campaigning period of one month, which was further restricted to nine projection meetings that were organized by the Election Commission and were attended only by the members of the Electoral College and members of the press. The public was barred from attending the projection meetings, which would have enhanced Fatima Jinnah's image.

Ayub Khan had a great advantage over the rest of the candidates. The Second Amendment of the Constitution confirmed him as President till the election of his successor. Armed with the wide-ranging constitutional powers of a President, he exercised complete control over all governmental machinery during elections. He utilized the state facilities as head of state, not as the President of the Convention Muslim League or a presidential candidate, and didn't even hesitate to legislate on electoral maters. Bureaucracy and business, the two beneficiaries of the Ayub Khan regime, helped him in his election campaign. Being a political opportunist, he brought all the discontented elements together to support him. Students were assured the revision of the University Ordinance and journalists the scrutiny of the Press Laws. Ayub Khan also gathered the support of the ulema who were of the view that Islam does not permit a woman to be the head of an Islamic state.

Fatima Jinnah's greatest advantage was that she was the sister of the Founder of Pakistan. She had detached herself from the political conflicts that had plagued Pakistan after the Founder's death. The sight of this dynamic lady moving in the streets of big cities, and even in the rural areas of a Muslim country, was both moving and unique. She proclaimed Ayub Khan to be a dictator. Jinnah's line of attack was that by coming to terms with the Republic of India on the Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers over to India. Her campaign generated tremendous public enthusiasm. She drew enormous crowds in all cities of East and West Pakistan. The campaign however suffered from a number of drawbacks. An unfair and unequal election campaign, poor finances, and indirect elections through the Basic Democracy System were some of the basic problems she faced.

Fatima Jinnah lost the election of 1965 and Ayub Khan was elected as the President of Pakistan. It is believed that had the elections been held via direct ballot, Fatima Jinnah would have won. The Electoral College consisted of only 80,000 Basic Democrats, who were easily manipulated. The importance of this election lay in the fact that a woman was contesting the highest political office of the country. The orthodox religious political parties, including the Jamaat-i-Islami led by Maulana Maududi, which had repeatedly declared that a woman could not hold the highest office of a Muslim country, modified their stance and supported the candidature of Fatima Jinnah. The election showed that the people had no prejudice against women holding high offices, and they could be key players in politics of the country.

Fatima Jinnah died in Karachi on July 8, 1967. The official cause of death was heart failure, but rumours persist that she was murdered by the same group who killed Liaquat Ali Khan. In 2003, the nephew of the Quaid-i-Azam, Akbar Pirbhai, reignited the controversy by suggesting that she was assassinated.

Fatima Jinnah's unfinished biography of the Quaid, My Brother, was published by the Quaid-i-Azam Academy in 1987.

Fatima Jinnah see Jinnah, FatimaKhatun-e Pakistan see Jinnah, Fatima"Lady of Pakistan" see Jinnah, FatimaMader-e Millat see Jinnah, Fatima"Mother of the Nation" see Jinnah, Fatima

Jinnah, Muhammad ‘AliJinnah, Muhammad ‘Ali (Mohammad Ali Jinnah) (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948). 20th century politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of Pakistan. He served as leader of The Muslim League and Pakistan's first Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam (Qaid-i-Azam) (Urdu: "Great Leader") and Baba-e-Qaum ("Father of the Nation"). .

Born in Karachi in a Khoja mercantile family, Jinnah had his early education at Karachi and Bombay and then proceeded to Lahore.There he joined the Lincoln’s Inn and in 1895 became the youngest Indian barrister to be called to the bar.He returned to Karachi in 1896 and a year later moved to Bombay, where he was able to build a flourishing practice, becoming in due course one of India’s foremost lawyers.He became a member of the Indian National Congress, joined the Muslim League in 1913 and negotiated the “Lucknow Pact” which guaranteed the rights of the Muslim community.

Jinnah’s first wife died while he was in England.In 1918, he married Ruttenbai, the daughter of Dinshaw Petit, a wealthy Bombay Parsi, despite her parents’ tenacious opposition.After a period of estrangement, Ruttenbai died in 1929.Jinnah’s sister, Fatima, remained his close companion until his death.

During his student days in England, Jinnah had come under the spell of nineteenth century British liberalism.He admired Gladstone and Morley and became associated with Dababhai Naoroji, the first Indian member of the British Parliament.When he returned to India his faith in liberalism and evolutionary politics was confirmed through his close association with three Indian National Congress stalwarts -- Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Surendranath Banerjee.These chief formative influences in his early life, buttressed by his own experience as a lawyer in a predominantly non-Muslim but cosmopolitan metropolis convinced him of the primacy of initiative, enterprise, and hard work, and goaded him to start his political career in 1905 from the Congress platform.He was secretary to its president Naoroji in 1906, and he soon became prominent in national politics.

In 1910, Jinnah was elected by Bombay Muslims to the Imperial Council.His parliamentary career would eventually span some thirty-seven years.From 1912 onward, Jinnah began wielding increasing influence in Muslim politics.At his insistence, the Muslim League (founded in 1906) adopted self-government as its ideal.He joined the league in 1913, becoming its president three years later.He brought the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League togther and was chiefly responsible for the Congress-League Pact [“The Lucknow Pact”] (1916), a joint scheme for postwar reforms, which conceded Muslims the right to separate electorates.For his untiring efforts to effect a communal settlement, the poet and political leader Sarojini Naidu hailed him as “the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.”Since he stood for civil liberties, he resigned from the council in 1919, when the Rowlatt Bill was passed into law; and since he stood for “ordered progress,” moderation, gradualism, and constitutionalism, he left the Congress in 1920 when it opted for Mohandas Gandhi’s direct action and non-cooperation platform.Jinnah also resigned from the Home Rule League, whose Bombay branch he headed, when Gandhi, upon his election as president, unilaterally changed its constitution and nomenclature.Jinnah’s ascendancy to national leadership thus received a serious setback, obliging him to withdraw from active politics for the next three years.

In 1924, Jinnah reorganized the Muslim League, of which he had been president since 1919, and devoted the next seven years attempting to bring about unity among the disparate ranks of Muslims and to develop a rational formula to effect a Hindu-Muslim settlement, which he considered the pre-condition for Indian freedom.He attended several unity conferences, wrote the Delhi Muslim Proposals (1927), pleaded for the incorporation of basic Muslim demands in the Nehru Report (1928), formulated the “Fourteen Points” (1929) as minimum Muslim demands for any constitutional settlement and as a riposte to the Nehru Report, and participated in the Round Table Conference (begun in 1930) in London, called by the British to formulate a new constitution for India.

Despairing alike of the “negative” Congress attitude and of chronic disunity in Muslim ranks, he went into self-exile in London (1931), but returned to India in 1934 at the fervent pleas of his followers.From 1936 onward, despite heavy odds, he breathed new life into the moribund Muslim League, gave it a coherent all-India policy and program, set up a machinery to fight elections in early 1937, and co-operated with the Congress against pro-British parties.The poor showing of the Muslim League in the 1937 elections led to the formation of one party Congress governments and the exclusion of the Muslim League from power in the Hindu majority provinces.Jinnah responded to the developing Congress policy by reorganizing the league in October 1937 on a more popular basis, changing its creed to “full independence” and going to Muslim masses for grassroots support. Jinnah was thus able to exploit both Muslim passion for freedom and heightened disenchantment with the Congress in order to gain support for the league’s platform; to put pressure on the otherwise reluctant provincial leadership to fall in line; and ti consolidate his claim as the sole spokesman of Indian Muslims. He was rewarded by overwhelming league victories in by-elections from 1938 onward and the celebration, at his call, of a “deliverance day” by Muslims in December 1939, on the Congress’ exit from power.His leadership of Muslims was also recognized by the British when they needed the league’s support in the war effort.

In March 1940, at the league’s session, Jinnah pronounced the 100 million Indian Muslims a nation in its own right, and on that basis demanded a separate independence for predominantly Muslim regions of northwestern and eastern India.Popularly known as Pakistan, this demand was first ridiculed and then vehemently opposed by the Congress.Nor were the British amenable to the idea of partitioning the subcontinent.But Jinnah organized his movement so adroitly that the Pakistan demand gathered momentum within a few years, became the central issue in all subsequent constitutional proposals, and was overwhelmingly voted for by Muslims in the 1945-1946 general elections. In the long, drawn-out controversy centering on certain provisions of the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), Jinnah proved himself a strategist of a rare caliber and outmaneuvered the Congress, causing an insoluble deadlock that led directly to the plan of June 3, 1947, under which India was partitioned.Pakistan was established in August 1947.

Because of Jinnah’s critical role in its emergence, Pakistan has been termed a “one-man achievement.”For the same reason, the Muslim League nominated him as governor-general, and the Pakistan Constituent Assembly elected him as president.Although aged and weak, he carried the heaviest burden in Pakistan and worked hard to secure its survival under rather treacherous circumstances.He died on September 11, 1948, from overwork, after a brief illness.

JobJob (Ayyub) (Ayoub) ('Iyyob).The Biblical Job is mentioned in the Qur’an in lists of those to whom Allah had given special guidance and inspiration.Later Muslim writers amplified the Qur’anic account.

Job is the central character of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Job begins with an introduction to Job's character — he is described as a blessed man who lives righteously. Satan challenges Job's integrity, proposing to God that Job serves him simply because God protects him. God removes Job's protection, allowing Satan to take his wealth, his children, and his physical health in order to tempt Job to curse God. Despite his difficult circumstances, he does not curse God, but rather curses the day of his birth. And although he protests his plight and pleads for an explanation, he stops short of accusing God of injustice. Most of the book consists of conversations between Job and his three friends concerning Job's condition and its possible reasons, after which God responds to Job and his friends. God opens his speech with the famous words, "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."After God's reply, Job is overwhelmed and says, "I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth." Then Job is restored to an even better condition than his former wealthy state, and lives for another 140 years.

The characters in the book of Job consist of Job, his wife, his friends, God, and Satan. Neither the patriarchs nor any other biblical characters make an appearance.

In the Qur'an, Job is known as Ayyub and considered a prophet in Islam. In the Arabic language the name of Job (Ayyūb) is symbolic of the virtue of patience, though it does not mean patience in itself.

John the BaptistJohn the Baptist (in Arabic, Yahya) (Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā).The Qur’an mentions John the Baptist (Yahya) several times among the just persons who serve as arguments for the Oneness of God.His role as Baptist and the story of his death are not mentioned.

John the Baptist was the prophetic forerunner of Jesus who is identified in the New Testament as the Elijah figure of Jewish eschatology.In the Christian Gospels, John the Baptist issued the call to repentance, in preparation for the coming Kingdom of God, and performs Baptism as a sign of repentance.Jesus began his ministry after being baptized by John.

In Islam, John is seen as one of the righteous prophets who preceded Muhammad.

Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā is a Prophet of Islam also known as the Biblical figure John the Baptist. He is believed by Muslims to be a witness to the word of God, and a righteous prophet who would herald the coming of Jesus.

The name John is derived, via Latin and Greek, from the Hebrew name Yochanan meaning: "Yahweh is gracious". Arab Christians use the name Youhanna for John, coming directly from the Hebrew and Aramaic which was used at the time.

The veneration of Yahya prevailed amongst some Muslim groups who were partly influenced by Byzantine Christian practices. This veneration, according to Muslim scholar al-Bīrūnī, included a feast commemorating Yahya's beheading on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Av. A shrine existing through to modern times is the oratory (maqām) of Yahya, located in the congregational mosque of Damascus. Some early reports mention that Umayyad caliph al-Walid I unearthed the head of Yahya and placed it in a pillar in Damascus, which had an architectural capital shaped like a basket of palm leaves.

Other sources, such as the Iraqi scholar al-Harawī, mention that the head had been transferred to the city of Aleppo by Mu'izz al-Daula Thimal bin Salih of the Mirdasid dynasty in 1043. Historians Zayd b. al-Hasan al-Kindī and Ibn al-Adīm note that the head was then stored in the upper oratory of the Aleppo citadel within a basin made of marble. The head was later evacuated to the Aleppo congregational mosque due to invading Mongol forces who had burned down the Aleppo citadel and upper oratory. There, according to Ibn Shaddad, it was buried west of the minbar (pulpit), with another oratory built for it. It thus became another spot of veneration for Yahya, and a place where some Syrians believed extra blessings (barakah) existed.

Yahya see John the BaptistYaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā see John the BaptistYochanan see John the Baptist"Yahweh is gracious" see John the BaptistYouhanna see John the Baptist

Johor, Rulers ofJohor, Rulers of. Southernmost state of the Federation of Malaysia, bounded on its west coast by the state of Melaka (Malacca) and on the east by Pahang.Its maritime boundaries are the Strait of Melaka, the Strait of Johor (formerly Tebrau), which separates it from Singapore, and the South China Sea.The name is derived from the Johor River, a large estuary that forms the eastern end of the Johor Strait.The rulers of Johor have

been:

Mahmud Syah I (1511-1528)

Alauddin Riayat Syah II (1528-1564)

Muzaffar Syah (1564-1570)

Abdul Jalil Syah (1570-1571)

Ali Jalla Abdul Jalil Syah II (1570/71-1597)

Alauddin Riayat Syah III (1597-1615)

Abdullah Ma’ayat Syah (1615-1623)

Abdul Jalil Syah III (1623-1677)

Ibrahim Syah (1677-1685)

Mahmud Syah II (1685-1699)

Abdul Jalil Riayat Syah IV (1699-1718)

Abdul Jalil Rahmat Syah (1718-1722)

Sulaiman Badrul Alam Syah (1722-1760)

Abdul Jalil Muazzam Syah (1760-1761)

Ahmad Riayat Syah (1761)

Mahmud Syah III (1761-1812)

Abdul Rahman Muazzam Syah (1812-1819)

Hussein Syah (1835)

Ali; Temenggong Tun Ibrahim (1835-1862)

Abu Bakar (1862-1895)

Ibrahim (1895-1959)

Ismail (1960-1981)

Iskandar (1981)

JonahJonah (Yunus ibn Mattay) (Yunaan) (Ionas).Sura 10 of the Qur’an bears the name of the Biblical prophet, and elsewhere he is mentioned as “The Man of the Fish.”Muslim legend later added other material.

Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century B.C.T., the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish. The Biblical story of Jonah is repeated in the Qur'an.

Jonah is also the central character in the Book of Jonah. Ordered by God to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me"Jonah seeks instead to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa and sailing to Tarshish. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing this is no ordinary storm, cast lots and learn that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard the storm will cease. The sailors try to get the ship to the shore but in failing feel forced to throw him overboard, at which point the sea calms. Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a large fish specially prepared by God where he spent three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). In chapter two, while in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to thanksgiving and to paying what he has vowed. God commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.

God again orders Jonah to visit Nineveh and to prophecy to its inhabitants. This time he goes and enters the city crying, "In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown." The people of Nineveh believe his word and proclaim a fast. The king of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation to decree fasting, sackcloth, prayer, and repentance. God sees their works and spares the city at that time .

Like many important Biblical characters, Jonah is also important in Islam as a prophet who is faithful to God (Allah) and delivers His messages. He is known to Muslims by his Arabic name, Yunus.Sura 37 (equivalent to chapter 37) of the Qur'an is where the full story of Prophet Jonah is recounted.

According to historical narrations about Muhammad's life, after 10 years receiving revelation, Muhammad went to the city of Ta'if to see if its leaders would allow him to preach his message from there rather than Makkah, but he was cast from the city by the urchins and children. He took shelter in the garden of Utbah and Shaybah, two members of the Quraysh tribe. They sent their servant, Addas, to serve him grapes for, although they were displeased at his Prophethood, their tribal bond — important in Jahili (pre-Islamic time) culture — took precedence. The Prophet asked Addas where he was from and the servant replied Niniwah. "The town of Yunus, son of Matta," the Prophet replied. Addas was shocked because he knew that the pagan Arabs had no knowledge of Yunus. He then asked how Muhammad knew of this man. "We are brothers," the Prophet replied. "Yunus was a Prophet of Allah and I, too, am a Prophet of Allah." Addas immediately accepted Islam and kissed the hands and feet of the Prophet.

Yunus ibn Mattay see JonahThe Man of the Fish see JonahYunaan see JonahIonas see Jonah

JosephJoseph (Yusuf ibn Ya‘qub) (Yosef) (Yusuf -- "May Yahweh add").The story of Joseph is told in Sura 12 of the Qur’an, which is said to be the most beautiful sura of all.The Shi'a, however, do not recognize this sura.In later times, many legendary details were added to the Qur’anic story.

Joseph is an important character from the Hebrew bible. The eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons, he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, but rose to become the most powerful man in Egypt after Pharaoh. He then brought his entire family down to Egypt, where they were settled in the land of Goshen.

Joseph ("Yusuf") is regarded by Muslims as a prophet (Qur'an, suras 6:84, 40:36), and a whole chapter (sura 12) is devoted to him. He is said to have been very handsome. Prophet Muhammad is believed to have once said, "One half of all the beauty God apportioned for mankind went to Joseph; the other one half went to the rest of mankind." One significant departure in the Qur'an is the use of an unspecified King in place of the Biblical Pharaoh. The story has the same general outlines as the Biblical narrative, but with a wealth of additional detail and incident. In the Qur'an, the brothers ask Jacob to let Joseph go with them. The pit into which Joseph is thrown is a well with water in it, and Joseph was taken as a slave by passing-by travellers (Qur'an 12:19). In one account, Joseph's face possessed such a peculiar brilliancy that his brothers noticed the different light in the sky as soon as he appeared above the edge of the well, and came back to claim him as their slave. This same peculiarity was noticeable when they went to Egypt: although it was evening when they entered the city, his face diffused such a light that the astonished inhabitants came out to see the cause of it.

In the Bible, Joseph discloses himself to his brethren before they return to their father the second time after buying corn. The same in the Islamic story but they are compelled to return to Jacob without Benjamin, and the former weeps himself blind. He remains so until the sons have returned from Egypt, bringing with them Joseph's garment. The garment healed the patriarch's eyes as soon as he put it to his face (Qur'an 12:96).

Yusuf ibn Ya'qub see Joseph

JoshuaJoshua (Yusha’ ibn Nun) (Y'hoshua) (Yoshiya) (Hoshea).He is alluded to in the Qur’an at Sura 5:23.Folklore has supplied his figure with many new features.

Joshua is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel (Numbers 13-14) and in a few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. According to the books Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses; his name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Joshua, (Numbers 13:16) the name by which he is commonly known; and he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus. He was probably the same age as Caleb, with whom he is occasionally associated.

He was one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. (Numbers 13:1-16) After the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, and allocated the land to the tribes.

Joshua also holds a position of respect to Muslims. According to the Qur'an, he was, along with Caleb, one of the two believing spies whom Moses had sent to spy the land of Canaan. All Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the Israelites, following the death of Moses. Although some Muslims see Joshua as a prophet, others view him not as prophet but as a saintly man and great leader. Muslims also believe Joshua to be the "attendant" of Moses mentioned in the Qur'an, before Moses meets Khidr.

Joshua is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but his name appears in other Islamic literature. His genealogy is given in Islam as Joshua, the son of Nun, the son of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Although Joshua was regarded by some classical scholars as the prophetic successor to Moses, others see him as a pious man but not a prophet. Tabari relates in his History of the Prophets and Kings that Joshua was one of the twelve spies and Muslim scholars believe that the two believing spies referred to in the Qur'an are none other than Joshua and Caleb. As Joshua took the leadership of the Israelites after the time of Moses, his role as the first Judge can be paralleled with that of Abu Bakr (or, in Shia Islam, Ali) as the first Caliph after the Prophet Muhammad. Joshua was exceptional among the Israelites for being one of the few faithful followers of God.

In the Qur'anic account of the conquest of Canaan, Joshua (and Caleb) are referenced, but not named, as two "God-fearing men", on whom God "had bestowed His grace".

Joshua is further mentioned in Islamic literature, and significant events from his Muslim narratives include the crossing of the Jordan river and the conquest of Bait al-Maqdis. But Muslim literature also preserves traditions of Joshua not found in the Hebrew Bible. Joshua is credited with being present at Moses's death and literature records that Moses's garments were with Joshua at the time of his departure.

Yusha' ibn Nun see JoshuaY'hoshua see JoshuaYoshiya see JoshuaHoshea see Joshua

Jubba’i, Abu ‘Ali al-Jubba’i, Abu ‘Ali al- (Abu ‘Ali al-Jubba’i) (d. 915/916).Mu‘tazili of Khuzistan.His ideas were refuted by Abu’l-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, who had been his pupil. His son Abu Hashim ‘Abd al-Salam (d. 933), was one of the very last Mu‘tazilis to exercise a direct influence on Sunni thought.

Al-Jubbai, Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, one of the most celebrated of the Mutazila.Born at Jubba in Khuzistan, he attended the school at Basra of Abu Yakub Yusuf al-Shahham who at that time occupied the chair of Abu'l Hudhayl al-Allaf. He succeeded al-Shham.

Al-Jubbai holds a place in the line of the Basra Mutazila who, especially over the question of human actions, differ from the Baghdad Mutazila. In Basra itself, he was particularly at variance with al-Nizzam (whom he opposed) and al-Jahiz, but he also differed from the two lines of thought of al-Asamm and Abbad although these were closer to his own. The two last-mentioned both combined the influence of Muammar with the tradition of Abu'l-Hudhayl; and the two former added to the Basra teaching influences deriving from Baghdad (school of al-Murdar).

Al-Jubbai had two pupils who later became celebrated: his son Abu Hashim and Abu'l-Hasan al-Ashari who, after breaking away, was to devote himself to refuting Mutazilism and to become the "founder" of the so-called school of the Ashariyya.

No complete work of al-Jubbai has survived until the present time. We know that he left Kitab al-usul, to the refutation of which al-Ashari devoted several treatises and various polemical works against Ibn al-Rawandi and al-Nazzam. But one of the best available sources allowing us to evaluate his tendencies is still the Makalat al-Islamiyyin of al-Ashari.

The teaching given by al-Jubbai followed after the reaction by Caliph Mutawakkil which dates from 850. Certain tendencies of al-Jubbai are linked with the best traditions of the school, others already proclaim the solutions of the Ashari kalam. On the one hand, he maintains the validity of akl (reason) as a criterion, and he continues to affirm the identity of the divine attributes and the divine essence; on the other hand, however, he tends to introduce once again the mystery of the divine Will and its action upon the world.

Al-Jubbai was no doubt one of the Mutazila whom al-Ashari took the greatest pains to refute, all the more since he knew him better; but this did not happen without his influence being felt, and as was previously noted al-Jubbai puts forward certain Ashari arguments. This complex relationship between al-Ashari and his former teacher helps, we feel, to explain the paradox of Asharism in its infancy: claiming kinship with the "Ancients", particularly Ibn Hanbal, but rejected, no less than Mutazilism, by contemporary Hanbalites.Abu 'Ali al-Jubba'i see Jubba’i, Abu ‘Ali al-

JuciJuci (Joci) (Jochi) ( (Zuchi) (c. 1184-1227).Eldest son of Jenghiz Khan (Genghis Khan) and the ancestor of the khans of the Golden Horde, Crimea, Tiumen, Bukhara and Khiva.

Jochi (Mongolian: Зүчи, Züchi, Crimean Tatar: Cuçi; also spelled Jöchi and Juchi) (c. 1180 – 1227), was the eldest of the Mongol chieftain Genghis Khan's four sons by his principal wife Börte. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.

There is some question as to Jochi's true paternity. Shortly after her marriage to Genghis Khan (known as Temüjin at the time), Börte was abducted by members of the Merkit tribe. She was given to a certain Chilger Boke, who was the brother of the Merkit chief, as a spoil of war. She remained in Chilger Boke's captivity for a few months before she was recovered by Temüjin. Shortly afterwards she gave birth to Jöchi. By all accounts, Genghis Khan treated Jochi as his first son, but a doubt always remained among the Mongols whether Temüjin or Chilger Boke was the real father of Jochi. This uncertainty about his paternity was not without consequences. Jochi’s descendants, although they formed the oldest branch of the Genghis Khan’s family, were never considered for the succession in claiming their father’s heritage and there were signs of estrangement between Jochi and Genghis Khan.

In 1207, Jochi successfully conquered the forest peoples in Siberia, extending the northern border of the Mongol Empire for the very first time. On behalf of his father, Jochi led two campaigns against the Kyrgyz, in 1210 and 1218. Jochi’s contribution in the Khwarezm war was extensive and he was responsible for capturing the towns of Signak, Jand, and Yanikant in April, 1220, during this war. Subsequently he was given the command of operation against the city of Urgench (Gurganj) which was the capital of the Khwarezmian Empire. Here the siege of the town led to inordinate delays because Jochi engaged in extensive negotiation with the town to persuade it to surrender peacefully and save it from destruction. This action was seen as militarily unsound by his brother, Chagatai. Chagatai wanted to destroy the city but Genghis Khan had promised the city to Jochi after his victory. This difference of opinion on military affairs deepened a rift between Jochi and Chagatai. Genghis Khan intervened in the campaign and appointed Ögedei as the commander of the operation. Ögedei resumed the operations vigorously and the town was duly captured, sacked, massacred and destroyed thoroughly.

The differences in tactics between Jochi and Chagatai in early 1221 added to their personal quarrel about the succession. To settle the matter, Genghis Khan called a kurultai. The formal meeting was used in both familial matters and matters of state. Temüjin was elected/appointed Khan of his tribe during a kurultai, and he called for them often during his early campaigns to garner public support for his wars. These meetings were key to Genghis Khan legitimacy. Tribal tradition was also critical. As Genghis Khan's first born son, Jochi, was favored to rule the clan and the empire after his father died. At the familial kurultai called in 1222, the issue of Jochi's legitimacy was brought up by Chagatai. At that meeting, Genghis Khan made it clear that Jochi was his legitimate first born son. However, he worried that the quarrelsome nature of the two would split the empire. By early 1223 Genghis Khan had selected Ögedei, his third son, as his successor. For the sake of preserving the Empire, both Jochi and Chagatai agreed but the rift between them never healed. Their rift would later politically divide the European part of the Mongol Empire from its Asian part permanently.

In the autumn of 1223 Genghis Khan started for Mongolia after completing the Khwarezm campaign. Ögedei, Chagatai and Tolui went with him but Jochi withdrew to his territories north of the Aral and Caspian Seas. There he remained until his death and would not see his father again in his lifetime. Perhaps the selection of Ögedei as a successor to Genghis Khan had greatly disappointed him; this is a probable explanation for Jochi's withdrawal from court life.

Though the histories are unclear, there is evidence that Jochi conspired against Genghis, and that Genghis in return pondered a pre-emptive strike. When Genghis Khan returned home he sent for Jochi. When the latter refused to obey and asked a pardon Genghis Khan sent Chagatai and Ögedei against him. But before it came to open hostilities, news came that Jochi had died in February 1227.

Genghis Khan had divided his empire among his four surviving sons during his lifetime. Jochi was entrusted with the westernmost part of the empire, then lying between Ural and Irtish rivers. In the kurultai of 1229 following Genghis Khan’s death, this partition was formalized and Jochi’s family (Jochi himself had died six months before Genghis Khan) was allocated the lands in the west up to ‘as far as the hooves of Mongol horses had trodden'. Following the Mongol custom, Genghis Khan bequeathed only four thousand ‘original’ Mongol troops to each of his three elder sons and 101,000 to Tolui, his youngest son. Consequently Jochi’s descendants extended their empire mostly with the help of auxiliary troops from the subjugated populations which happened to be Turkic. This was the chief reason why the Golden Horde acquired a Turkic identity. Jochi's inheritance was divided among his sons. His sons Orda and Batu founded the White Horde and the Blue Horde, respectively, and would later combine their territories into the Kipchak Khanate or Golden Horde. Another of Jochi’s sons, Shiban, received territories that lay north of Batu and Orda’s Ülüs.

Genghis Khan had made Jochi responsible for the supervision and conduct of the community hunt. Hunting was essentially a large scale military exercise designed specifically for the training of the army. It frequently encompassed thousands of square kilometers of area, required the participation of several tumens and lasted anywhere between one to three months. Rules and procedure of the conduct of the military exercise were encoded in the Yassa.

Certain incidences hint towards the fact that Jochi was of a kinder disposition than Genghis Khan, though the adjective “kind” must be interpreted by the standards of his times and milieu because Jochi had had his share of indulgence in massacres of civilians. On one occasion Jochi pleaded with his father to spare the life of a son of an enemy chief who had been taken captive and who happened to be a great archer. Jochi argued that such a great archer

archer could be an asset to the Mongol army. Genghis Khan brushed aside this argument and had the captive executed.

Jochi had at least 14 sons and one daughter:

* Orda (c. 1204-1280)* Batu (c. 1205-1255)* Berke, Khan of the Golden Horde from 1257-1267[3]* Berkhechir* Shiban* Tangad* Teval (Buval). He was the grandfather of Nogai Khan.* Chilagun* Sinqur* Chimbay* Muhammed* Udur* Tuq-timur, the ancestor of late khans of the Great Horde.* Shingum* a daughter who married the Qarluq chief of Almaliq.

Joci see JuciJochi see JuciZuchi see Juci

JuhaJuha.Nickname of a person whom popular imagination made the hero of several hundred jests, anecdotes and amusing stories.

JumbeJumbe.Dynasty of rulers of a Swahili-Arab trading center in Malawi during the nineteenth century.Jumbe, Swahili for “chief” or “official,” was the title taken by four successive rulers of the town of Nkhota Kota (Kota Kota) on the southwest coast of Lake Nyasa.By virtue primarily of their superiority in firearms, the Jumbes dominated the ivory and slave trades of central Malawi and established a sort of protectorate in the name of the sultans of Zanzibar (now Tanzania), to whom they paid nominal allegiance.The Jumbes are credited with introducing Islamic culture to modern Malawi.Chief see Jumbe.Official see Jumbe.

Jumbe I, Salim ibn AbdallahJumbe I, Salim ibn Abdallah (Salim ibn Abdallah Jumbe I) (c. 1800-c. 1875).Occupier of Nkhota Kota during the 1840s.He came from Zanzibar by way of western Tanzania, where he had traded at Tabora and Ujiji during the 1830s.Initially, he traded across the lake on the suffrance of the Chewa chief Malenga, but gradually he became recognized as a protector against the aggressive Ngoni kingdoms and was paid tribute by local chiefs.At first, he styled himself “the Sultan of Marimba”, but later took the title Jumbe to represent himself as an agent of the Zanzibar government.He was visited twice during the 1860s by David Livingstone, the first European to describe the country.Salim ibn Abdallah Jumbe I see Jumbe I, Salim ibn AbdallahSultan of Marimba see Jumbe I, Salim ibn Abdallah

Jumbe III, Tawakali SudiJumbe III, Tawakali Sudi (Tawakali Sudi Jumbe III) (Mwene Kisutu) (c. 1845-1894).Ruler of Nkhota Kota who asserted his link to the Sultan of Zanzibar more forcibly and built his trading state to its greatest power.When British settlers arrived in Malawi about the time of his succession he co-operated with them and accepted a Christian missionary in his predominantly Muslim town.H. H. Johnston declared a British protectorate over Malawi in 1889 and Jumbe III became one of the first rulers to collaborate with the new regime.His economic ties with the local peoples were sufficiently diversified and strong for him to renounce slave trading in return for a government subsidy.He provided Johnston with some material support to help suppress other slave traders around the lake.Shortly before his death, however, he was unable to prevent his own people from resuming the trade.Tawakali Sudi Jumbe III see Jumbe III, Tawakali SudiMwene Kisutu see Jumbe III, Tawakali SudiKisutu, Mwene see Jumbe III, Tawakali Sudi

Jumbe IV, Mwene HeriJumbe IV, Mwene Heri (Mwinyi Kheri).Son of Jumbe II.After becoming the Jumbe in 1894, he revolted against the British administration only to be quickly captured and deposed.He was deported to Zanzibar and the rule of the Jumbes in Malawi came to an end.Mwene Heri Jumbe IV see Jumbe IV, Mwene HeriMwinyi Kheri see Jumbe IV, Mwene HeriKheri, Mwinyi see Jumbe IV, Mwene Heri

JumblatJumblat (Jumblatt) (Joumblatt) (in Arabic, Janbulat).Family of amirs in Lebanon, Druze in religion, Kurdish in origin.In Kurdish, the word means “soul of steel.”They appeared in the sixteenth century and have been active until the present day.Other modern spellings are "Djoumblatt" and "Jomblatt."Jumblatt see JumblatJanublat see JumblatSoul of Steel see JumblatDjoumblatt see JumblatJomblatt see JumblatJoumblatt see Jumblat

Jumblat, KamalJumblat, Kamal (Kamal Jumblatt) (Kamal Joumblatt) (December 6, 1917 – March 16, 1977). Lebanese politician and Druze leader. He was the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War until his assassination in 1977. He is the father of the present Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

Kamal Jumblatt was born in 1917 in Moukhtara, in the Chouf area of Lebanon. He was born into the prestigious Jumblatt family, who were traditional leaders of the Lebanese Druze community. His father, the powerful Druze chieftain Fouad Jumblatt, director of the Chouf District, was assassinated on August 6, 1921. After his father’s death, Kamal Jumblatt’s mother Nazira played a significant political role in the Druze community for over a quarter of a century.

In 1926, the young Kamal Jumblatt joined the Lazarus Fathers Institute in Aintoura, where he completed his elementary studies in 1928. He achieved his high school diploma, having studied French, Arabic, science and literature, in 1936, and a philosophy diploma in 1937.

Jumblatt then pursued higher studies in France, where he joined the Faculty of Arts at the Sorbonne University and earned a degree in Psychology and Civil Education, and another one in Sociology. He returned to Lebanon in 1939, after the outbreak of World War II and continued his studies at St Joseph University where he obtained a law degree in 1945.

On May 1, 1948, he married May Arslan, daughter of Prince Shakib Arslan (the Arslans being the other prominent Lebanese Druze family). Their only son, Walid Jumblatt, was born on August 7, 1949.

Kamal Jumblatt practiced law in Lebanon from 1941 to 1942 and was designated the Official State Lawyer for the Lebanese Government. In 1943, he became the leader of the Jumblatt clan after the death of Hikmat Jumblatt, this also brought him into the Lebanese political scene. In September, 1943, Kamal Jumblatt was elected to the National Assembly for the first time, as a deputy of Mount Lebanon. He joined the opposition to the ruling Constitutional Bloc Party, headed by the then-President, Bechara El Khoury. In 1946, he was appointed Minister for the first time, for the portfolio of Economy, Agriculture & Social Affairs.

In 1947, in spite of his own election for the second time as deputy, he thought of resigning from the government. He began to believe that change through the Lebanese political system was impossible. After opposition groups attempted to pressure him into leaving he decided to remain in office.

On March 17, 1949, Kamal Jumblatt officially founded the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and declared its constitution on May 1, 1949. The PSP was a socialist party espousing secularism and officially opposed to the sectarian character of Lebanese politics. In practice, it has been led and largely supported since its foundation by members of the Druze community in general, and the Jumblatt clan in particular. In the name of the PSP, Jumblatt called the first convention of the Arab Socialist Parties, was held in Beirut in May 1951. The same year, he was re-elected for the third time as Deputy of Mount Lebanon.

In 1952, he represented Lebanon at the Cultural Freedom Conference that was held in Switzerland. In August 1952, he organized a National Conference at Deir El Kamar, in the name of the National Socialist Front, calling for the resignation of President Bechara El Khoury. Due mainly to these pressures, the President resigned the same year.

In 1953, Jumblatt was re-elected Deputy for the fourth time. He founded the Popular Socialist Front the same year and led the opposition against the new President, Camille Chamoun. During his presidency, the pro-Western President Chamoun tied Lebanon to the policies of the United States of America and the United Kingdom, who were at that time involved in the creation of the Baghdad Pact, comprising Hashemite Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan. This was seen by pan-Arabists as an imperialist coalition, and it was strongly opposed by the influential Nasserist movement. Jumblatt supported Egypt against an attack by Israel, France, and the United Kingdom in the Suez War of 1956, while Chamoun and parts of the Maronite Christian elite in Lebanon tacitly supported the invasion. The sectarian tensions of Lebanon greatly increased in this period, and both sides began to brace for violent conflict.

In 1956, Jumblatt failed for the first time in the parliamentary elections, complaining of electoral gerrymandering and election fraud by the authorities. Two years later, he was one of the main leaders of a major political uprising against Camille Chamouns Maronite-dominated government, which soon escalated into street fights and guerrilla attacks. While the revolt reflected a number of political and sectarian conflicts, it had a pan-Arabist ideology, and was heavily supported through Syria by the newly formed United Arab Republic. The uprising ended after the United States intervened on the side of the Chamoun government and sent the Marine Corps to occupy Beirut. A political settlement followed by which Fuad Chehab was appointed new President of the Republic.

Jumblatt chaired the Afro-Asian People’s Conference in 1960 and founded the same year, the National Struggle Front (NSF), a movement which gathered a large number of nationalist deputies. That same year, he was re-elected Deputy for the fifth time and the NSF won 11 seats within the Lebanese Parliament. From 1960 to 1961 he was Minister for the second time, for the National Education portfolio and then in 1961 he was appointed Minister of Public Work & Planning. From 1961 to 1964, he was Interior Minister.

On May 8, 1964, Jumblatt won at the parliamentary elections for the sixth time. In 1965, he began joining together Arab nationalist and progressivist politicians into a Nationalist Personalities Front. In 1966 he was appointed Minister of Public Work and Minister of PTT. He also represented Lebanon at the Congress of Afro-Asian Solidarity, and presided over the parliamentary and popular delegation to the People’s Republic of China in 1966.

He supported the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel for ideological reasons, but also to garner support from the Palestinian fedayeen based in Lebanon's refugee camps. The presence in Lebanon of large numbers of Palestinian refugees was resented by most Christians, but Jumblatt strived to build a hard core of opposition around the Arab nationalist slogans of the Palestinian movement. Demanding a new Lebanese order based on secularism, socialism, Arabism and an abolition of the sectarian system, Jumblat began gathering disenchanted Sunnis, Shi'a and leftist Christians into an embryonic national opposition movement.

On May 9, 1968, he was re-elected Deputy for the seventh time. In 1970, he was once again appointed Minister of the Interior, a reward for his last-minute switch of allegiance in the presidential election that year, which resulted in Suleiman Franjieh's victory by one vote over Elias Sarkis, who was considered the odds-on favorite. As Interior Minister, he legalized the Communist Party (LCP) and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). In 1972, Kamal Jumblatt was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union. The same year, he was re-elected Deputy for the eighth time. The following year, he was unanimously elected Secretary General of the Arab Front, a movement supportive of the Palestinian revolution.

The 1970s in Lebanon were characterized by rapidly building tension between the Christian-dominated government and Muslim and leftist opposition forces, demanding better representation in the government apparatus and a stronger Lebanese commitment to the Arab world. The conflict took place more or less along the same sectarian and political lines as the 1958 rebellion.

Both the opposition and their mainly Christian opponents organized armed militias, and the risk of armed conflict increased steadily. Jumblatt had organized his own PSP into an armed force, and made it the backbone of the Lebanese National Movement (LNM), a coalition of left-wing Lebanese demanding the abolition of the sectarian quota system that permeated Lebanese politics, which discriminated against Muslims. The LNM was further joined by Palestinian radicals of the Rejectionist Front, and maintained good relations with the officially non-committal Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Palestinian presence in the ranks of the opposition was a new development compared to the 1958 conflict.

In April 1975, a series of tit-for-tat killings culminating in a Phalangist massacre of Palestinian guerillas, prompted full-blown fighting in Beirut. In August 1975, Jumblatt declared a program for reform of the Lebanese political system, and the LNM openly challenged the government's legitimacy. In October a new round of fighting broke out, and quickly spread throughout the country: the Lebanese Civil War had begun.

During the period of 1975-1976 Jumblatt acted as the main leader of the Lebanese opposition in the war, and with the aid of the PLO the LNM rapidly gained control over nearly 70% of Lebanon. This prompted Syrian intervention, since the Assad regime feared a collapse of the Christian-dominated order. Some 40,000 Syrian soldiers invaded Lebanon in 1976 and quickly smashed the LNM's favorable position; a truce was declared and the fighting subsided. The conflict remained unsolved, however, and during 1977, violence again began to increase.

On March 16, 1977, Kamal Jumblat was assassinated. Prime suspects include the pro-Syrian faction of the Lebanese Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), in collaboration with the Ba'ath Party. In 2005, his son Walid Jumblatt, who immediately succeeded him as the main Druze leader of Lebanon and as head of the PSP, accused Syrian secret service agents of responsibility for his father's murder. In June 2005, former secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party George Hawi claimed in an interview with al Jazeera, that Rifaat al-Assad, brother of Hafez al Assad and uncle of Syria's current President Bashar al-Assad, had been behind the killing of Jumblatt. It is widely believed in Lebanon that Syria was also behind Hawi's death in a car bomb, some days later.

Walid was born on August 7, 1949, in the Mukhtara village (40 kilometers southeast of Beirut), the son of the leading Druze politician Kamal Jumblat.

In the late 1960s, he started studying at the American University of Beirut.

In March of 1977, Walid’s father, was assassinated.Walid succeeded him as head of their clan as well as head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP).Walid met with much Druze opposition from other clans.

In 1983, Walid’s militia began a campaign to drive the Christian dominated Lebanese Forces out of his native Shouf region.They had success but were eventually stopped by the troops of Michel Aoun.The successes of Walid made him the undisputed leader of Lebanon’s Druze community.In 1983, Walid opposed a peace agreement with Israel.

In April of 1984, Walid became Minister of Public Works in the national reconciliation government of Rashid Karami.In October of the same year, Walid was active in forming an alliance of six parties in opposition to President Amin Gemayel.

In 1987, Walid stepped down from his position as minister following the resignation of Karami’s government.

In November of 1989, Walid became Minister of Public Works in the government of Salim al-Hoss.

In October of 1990, a national reconciliation government was formed with Omar Karami, and Walid became minister without portfolio.

In 1992, Jumblat was appointed Minister of Displaced Persons.

In the year 2000, Jumblat called for a reduction of Syrian control over Lebanese politics.In March 2001, Syrian troops seized control of the Shouf region, and Walid escaped for London.In April, Walid returned to Lebanon, after a week abroad.On May 22, 2001, Walid traveled to Damascus where he conducted talks with president Bashar al-Assad.

As a politician, Walid was more moderate than his father, and sought alliances with Syria during the Lebanese Civil War, which has dominated Lebanon’s internal politics for a couple of decades.Nevertheless, he became increasingly critical towards the continued Syrian presence in the 1990s, and was directly outspoken following the death of Hafiz al-Assad.This angered Damascus, and Jumblat was declared unwanted in Lebanon.

After the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005, Jumblatt said that a shaken Hariri had told him months before that Hariri had been personally threatened by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a 15-minute meeting in the Syrian capital Damascus in August 2004:His comments were included in the FitzGerald Report, the United Nations's report on the investigation of the Hariri assassination. The report criticized Syria for the political tensions which preceded the assassination. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations demanded a Syrian pullout from Lebanon and an international investigation into Hariri's murder.

Jumblatt has publicly spoken of his fear of being assassinated, like Hariri, because of his current stance towards Damascus. The unsuccessful attempt on the life of his closest political ally and friend, MP Marwan Hamadeh, in October 2004 was interpreted by many as an ominous message addressed to Jumblatt.

However, in November 2009 Jumblatt changed. Syria, he then claimed, was the core of the Arab world and Lebanon was destined to be on its side. If he had once spoken ill of Bashar Assad, it was only in the heat of emotion, Jumblatt told al-Manar, the television station run by Hizbullah.

Walid was clearly one of the smartest politicians in Lebanon.He was consistently successful in supporting the prevailing political party.

Walid opposed peace agreements with Israel, but he did establish back-channel contacts with the Israelis in order to keep his options open.Walid was able to build a huge personal fortune, spinning off the position he built through the support from Syria.

Junayd, Abu’l-QasimJunayd, Abu’l-Qasim (Abu’l-Qasim Junayd) (d. 910 C.C.).Persian Sufi of Baghdad.Educated in hadith and fiqh, Junayd pursued the mystical path under the direction of his uncle.Like other Sufi masters, Junayd spoke of love, striving, annihilation, and union, but unlike Bistami and his own disciple, al-Hallaj, Junayd stressed the value of “sobriety” rather than “intoxication” in his numerous elliptical references to knowledge of God.

Occasional reference has been made to a school founded by Junayd -- the Junaydiya.Organizers of the earliest major Sufi orders traced their spiritual affiliation to Muhammad through Junayd and his disciples.

Junayd, ShaykhJunayd, Shaykh (Shaykh Junayd).Turcoman Shi‘a Sufi leader of the Safavids in Azerbaijan.Shaykh Junayd was the grandfather of Shah Isma’il.Shaykh Junayd died in 1460.Shaykh Junayd see Junayd, Shaykh

Abu Bakr 'Abd ul Qahir ibn 'Abdur-Rahman al-Jurjani (d. 1078), Arabian grammarian, belonged to the Persian school and wrote a famous grammar, the Kitab ul-'Awdmil ul-Mi'a or Kitab Mi'at 'Amil, which was edited by Erpenius (Leiden, 1617), by Baillie (Calcutta, 1803), and by A Lockett (Calcutta, 1814).

Ten Arabic commentaries on this work exist in manuscript, also two Turkish. It has been versified five times and translated into Persian. Another of his grammatical works on which several commentaries have been written is the Kitab Jumal fin-Nahw.

Ali ibn Mohammed al-Jurjani (1339 – 1414), Arabian encyclopaedic writer, was born near Astarabad and became professor in Shiraz. When this city was plundered by Timur (1387) he removed to Samarkand, but returned to Shiraz in 1405, and remained there until his death.

Of his thirty-one extant works, many being commentaries on other works, one of the best known is the Ta'rifdt (Definitions).

Imam al-Haramayn Dhia' ul-Din Abd al-Malik ibn Yusuf al-Juwayni al-Shafi'i was born in Juwayn (also spelled Joweyn or Joveyn), Khorasan (in modern day Lash o Jowayn, Farah Province, Afghanistan). He was one of the most famous and perhaps most important (after Imam Ash'ari himself) of the scholars of the Asharite school of theological thought. He is known to have contributed the most to Islamic canonical theology (Qanuniya al Islamiyah).

His full name was Abd al-Malik ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Yusuf, Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni al-Shafi'i. He was the teacher of the famous Sufi and Islamic scholar Imam al-Ghazali.

Al-Juwayni was also known by the nickname of 'Imam al-Haramayn meaning 'the Imam of the two sanctuaries' (i.e Mecca and Medina).He served in the Nizamiyya seminaries built by the Seljuq Turks who favored the Asharite school of thought where he educated numerous scholars of the Asharite school.

Some modern Muslims who belong to the Salafi have claimed that al-Juwayni abandoned the Asharite school of thought for their own school of thought (a more literalist interpretation preached by ibn Taymiyah, and his student ibn al-Qayyim).Asharites refute such a claim.

Al-Juwayni was one of the most famous teachers of the Asharite theology alongside al-Bayhaqi, Shatibi and others. Due to his teaching at the Nizamiyya school and it's patronage by the Seljuqs he was a contributing factor to the spread of the Asharite school in the Islamic world.

The works of al-Juwayni include

* Fara'id al-Simtayn

In fiqh: Ghiyath al-Umam, Mughith al-Khalq, Nihaya al-Matlab fi Diraya al-Madhhab ("The End of the Quest in the Knowledge of the [Shafi'i] School"), his magnum opus, which Ibn 'Asakir said had no precedent in Islam, and Mukhtasar al-Nihaya.

In usûl: al-Burhan, al-Talkhis, and al-Waraqat.

In kalām: al-Shamil, al-Irshad (a book which has been translated into English), and al-Nizamiyya.

Juwayni, ‘Ala’ al-DinJuwayni, ‘Ala’ al-Din (‘Ala’ al-Din Juwayni) (1226-1283).Persian governor and historian from Juwayn in Nishapur country, Iran.He visited Mongolia, accompanied the Mongol Il-Khan Hulegu on his campaigns against the Isma‘ilis of Alamut and the Baghdad Caliphate, and saved the famous library of Alamut from destruction.He wrote a history of the Mongols and of the dynasty of the Khwarazm-Shahs, which has considerably influenced historical tradition in the East and is a historical authority of the first rank.

Juwayni was the byname for ‘Ala al-Din ‘Ata Malik.Juwayni came from a distinguished family of public servants.His father was Minister of Finance to the Mongol governor of the western territories of the empire and his brother Grand Vizier to Abaqa Khan (1265-1282).

Juwayni began his career as private secretary to the Mongol governor Arghun, whom he accompanied on official missions to Mongolia.While at Karakorum in 1252-1253, Juwayni conceived the idea of writing the history of the Mongol conquests.After accompanying Hulagu in the campaigns against the Assassins and the caliph of Baghdad, Juwayni was appointed governor of Baghdad and Lower Mesopotamia, where he ruled justly for over 20 years.By 1281, however, Juwayni was under suspicion.He repelled with difficulty charges of embezzlement and of treasonable correspondence with the Sultan of Egypt.

Juwayni died in disgrace and was buried at Tabriz.

Juwayni’s Ta’rikh-i Jihan-gusha (The History of the World-Conqueror) was composed piecemeal from 1252 until about 1260.Though written in very elaborate and euphuistic (flowery) style, it is an invaluable source, by one who was at the center of affairs and had an intimate knowledge of the Mongol Empire.The first book relates the history of Jenghiz Khan and his successors, the second and third the history of his principal opponents, the Khwarazm-shahs and the “Assassins” of Alamut.

Shams al-Din Juvayni was a vizier and sahib-divan or Minister of Finance under three Mongol Ilkhans - Hulagu, Abaqa and Tekuder - from 1263 until his execution by Arghun Khan in 1285. A member of a Persian secretarial dynasty from northern Khurasan, Shams al-Din was the brother of the historian Ata al-Mulk Juvayni. Both brothers held influential positions in the independent khanate that Hulagu founded in Iran after the death of his brother Möngke Khan in 1259.

A skillful political and military leader, Shams al-Din Juvayni is also known to have patronized the arts. His wife Khoshak was the daughter of Awak Zak'arean-Mkhargrdzeli, Lord High Constable of Georgia, and Gvantsa, a noblewoman who went on to become queen of Georgia.

In 1285, Arghun accused Shams al-Din of having poisoned the Ilkhan Abaqa, who may actually have died of the effects of alcoholism. Shams al-Din was duly executed and replaced as vizier by Buqa.Shams al-Din Juwayni see Juwayni, Shams al-Din

Ka‘b al-AhbarKa‘b al-Ahbar (Abū Iṣḥaq Ka‘b ibn Mati‘ al-Humyari al-Aḥbār) (d. 652).Yemenite Jew who became a convert to Islam and is considered the oldest authority on Judeo-Islamic traditions.

Ka‘b al-Aḥbār was a prominent rabbi (turned Muslim) from Yemen of the clan of Dhu Ra'in or Dhu al-Kila. He is counted among the Tabi‘in and narrated many Isra'iliyat.

Ka‘b moved from Yemen to Bilad al-Sham.

Ka‘b came to Medina during the time of Umar where he converted to Islam. He lived there until Uthman's era. Ka‘b did not meet Muhammad.

Ka'b accompanied Khalif Umar in his voyage to Jerusalem (Al-Quds) He helped locate the foundations of the ancient Jewish temple where Umar built the Aqsa Mosque. He also helped find the place of the Rock while he was looking for the Holy of Holies. Umar cleaned it from rubble and fenced it and an Umayyad Khalif later built the Dome of the Rock over it as an integral part of the Aqsa Mosque.

Ka‘b went to Syria and became one of Mu‘awiyah's advisers. He died in Hims, during the Caliphate of Uthman exceeding 100 years of age.

Ka‘b al-AshrafKa‘b al-Ashraf (Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf)(d. 624).Jewish opponent of the Prophet at Medina who, by his poetic gifts, incited the Quraysh to fight the Muslims.

Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was a chief of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir and a poet, who was assassinated by an order of Muhammad. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was born to a Jewish-Arab mother from the Banu Nadir tribe and a Muslim-Arab father, and he followed his mother's religion.

According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b because the latter "had gone to Mecca after Badr and provoked Quraysh to fight the prophet. He also composed verses in which he bewailed the victims of Quraysh who had been killed at Badr. Shortly afterwards he returned to Medina and composed amatory verses of an insulting nature about the Muslim women."Other historiographical sources state that the reason for killing of Ka'b was that he had plotted with a group of Jews to kill Muhammad. The writings of the later commentators such as al-Zamakhshari, al-Tabarsi, al-Razi and al-Baydawi provide another distinct report according to which Ka'b was killed because Gabriel had informed Muhammad about a treaty signed by himself and Aba Sufyan creating an alliance between the Quraysh and forty Jews against Muhammad during Ka'b's visit to Mecca.

Ka'b was infuriated at Muhammad's execution of a number of Meccan notables of the Quraysh tribe who had been captured after the Muslim victory in the Battle of Badr in March 624. The traditional Muslim biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "...if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!"

Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf rode to the Quraish at Mecca, in order to lament the loss at Badr and to incite them to take up arms to regain lost honor, noting the statement of Muhammad: "He (Ka'b) has openly assumed enmity to us and speaks evil of us and he has gone over to the polytheists (who were at war with Muslims) and has made them gather against us for fighting". Some sources suggest that during his visit to Mecca, Ka'b concluded a treaty with Abu Sufyan, stipulating cooperation between the Quraysh and Jews against Muhammad.

Upon returning to Medina, Ka'b also wrote erotic poetry about Muslim women, which Muhammad and his followers found offensive.

Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b, and Muhammad ibn Maslama offered his services, collecting four others, including a foster-brother of Ka'b. By pretending to have turned against Muhammad, they enticed Ka'b out of his fortress on a moonlit night for what was supposed to be negotiations of Ka'b's sale of food to them. After Ka'b walked out of his fortress to meet Muhammad ibn Maslama and his companions, they attacked Ka'b and killed him in spite of his vigorous resistance.

A number of reasons are given for the assassination. One reason is that al-Ashraf had tried to provoke the Quraysh against Muhammad, and later composed verses insulting Muslim women. Another reason is his attempt to assassinate Muhammad. Finally, Muhammad was acting in accordance with the norms of the Arab society of that period which demanded retaliation for a slight to a group's honor.

The Jews were terrified at the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, and as a Muslim biographer of Muhammad put it "...there was not a Jew who did not fear for his life". Shortly after the killing of Ka'b, Muhammad attacked Banu Nadir and expelled them from Medina.

KabardsKabards.Muslim people of the Caucasus, completely Islamicized by the end of the seventeenth century.

Kabbah, AhmadAlhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (February
16, 1932 – March 13, 2014) was the third President of Sierra Leone from
1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by
professions, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations
Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned
to Sierra Leone in 1992.

In
early 1996, Kabbah was elected leader of the Sierra Leone People's
Party (SLPP) and the party's presidential candidate in the 1996
presidential election. He was elected President of Sierra Leone in the
1996 presidential election with 59% of the vote defeating his closest
rival John Karefa-Smart of the United National People's Party (UNPP) who
had 40% in the runoff vote and conceded defeat. International observers
declared the election free and fair. In his inauguration speech in
Freetown, Kabbah promised to end the civil war, which he indeed achieved
later in his presidency.

An
ethnic Mandingo, Kabbah was Sierra Leone's first Muslim head of
state. Kabbah was born in Pendembu, Kailahun District in Eastern Sierra
Leone, though he was largely raised in the capital Freetown.

Most
of Kabbah's time in office was influenced by the civil war with the
Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, which involved him
being temporarily ousted by the military Armed Forces Revolutionary
Council from May 1997 to March 1998. He was soon returned to power after
a military intervention by the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS), led by Nigeria. Another phase of the civil war led to
United Nations and British involvement in the country in 2000.

As
President, Kabbah opened direct negotiations with the RUF rebels in
order to end the civil war. He signed several peace accords with the
rebel leader Foday Sankoh, including the 1999 Lome Peace Accord, in
which the rebels, for the first time, agreed to a temporary cease fire
with the Sierra Leone government. When the cease fire agreement with the
rebels virtually collapsed, Kabbah campaigned for international
assistance from the British, the United Nations Security Council, the
African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to help
defeat the rebels and restored peace and order in Sierra Leone.

Kabbah
declared the civil war officially over in early 2002. Tens of thousands
of Sierra Leoneans across the country took to the streets to celebrate
the end of the war. Kabbah went on to easily win his final five year
term in office in the presidential election later that year with 70.1%
of the vote, defeating his main opponent Ernest Bai Koroma of the main
opposition All People's Congress (APC). International observers declared
the election free and fair.

Alhaji
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was born on February 16, 1932 in the rural town of
Pendembu, Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone to
devout Muslim parents. Kabbah's father was an ethnic Mandingo and a
deeply religious Muslim of Guinean descent and a native of Kambia
District in the north of Sierra Leone. His mother was also a Muslim and a
member of the Mende ethnic group from the Coomber family, a Chieftaincy
ruling house based in the small rural town of Mobai, Kailahun District.
Kabbah's first name Ahmad means "highly praised" or "one who constantly
thanks God" in the Arabic language. Kabba himself was a devout Muslim
and a member of the Mandingo ethnic group. Kabbah was a fluent speaker
of his native Mandingo language and was also a fluent speaker of the
local Susu language. Though born in the Kailahun District, Kabbah was
largely raised in the capital Freetown.

Though
a devout Muslim, Kabbah received his secondary education at the St.
Edward's secondary school in Freetown, the oldest Catholic secondary
school in Sierra Leone. Kabbah married a Catholic, the late Patricia
Kabbah, (born Patricia Tucker), who was an ethnic Sherbro from Bonthe
District in Southern Sierra Leone. Together the couple had five
children. Kabbah received his higher education at the Cardiff College of
Technology and Commerce, and University College Aberystwyth, Wales, in
the United Kingdom, with a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1959. He
later studied law, and in 1969 he became a practicing Barrister-at-Law,
member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, London.

Kabbah
spent nearly his entire career in the public sector. He served in the
Western Area and in all the Provinces of Sierra Leone. He was a District
Commissioner in Bombali and Kambia (Northern Province), in Kono
(Eastern Province) and in Moyamba and Bo (Southern Province). He later
became Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, including Trade and
Industry, Social Welfare, and Education. Kabbah
was an international civil servant for almost two decades. After
serving as deputy Chief of the West Africa Division of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, he was reassigned in
1973 to head the Programme's operation in the Kingdom of Lesotho, as
Resident Representative. He also headed UNDP operations in Tanzania and
Uganda, and just before Zimbabwe's independence, he was temporarily
assigned to that country to help lay the groundwork for cooperation with
the United Nations system.

After
a successful tour of duty in Eastern and Southern Africa, Kabbah
returned to New York to head UNDP's Eastern and Southern Africa
Division. Among other things, he was directly responsible for
coordinating United Nations system assistance to liberation movements
recognized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), such as the
African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, and the South West
African People's Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia.

Before
his retirement in 1992, Kabbah held a number of senior administrative
positions at UNDP Headquarters in New York, including those of Deputy
Director and Director of Personnel, and Director, Division of
Administration and Management.

After
the military coup in 1992, Kabbah was asked to chair the National
Advisory Council, one of the mechanisms set up by the military to
alleviate the restoration of constitutional rule, including the drafting
of a new constitution for Sierra Leone. He reputedly intended his
return to Sierra Leone to be a retirement, but was encouraged by those
around him and the political situation that arose to become more
actively involved in the politics of Sierra Leone.

Kabbah
was seen as a compromise candidate when he was put forward by the
Mende-dominated Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) as their presidential
hopeful in the 1996 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the first
multi-party elections in twenty-three years. The SLPP won the
legislative vote overwhelmingly in the South and Eastern Province of the
country, they split the vote with the UNPP in the Western Area and they
lost in the Northern Province. On March 29, 1996, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan
Kabbah was sworn in as President of Sierra Leone. Guided by his
philosophy of "political inclusion" he appointed the most broad-based
government in the nation's history, drawing from all political parties
represented in Parliament, and ‘technocrats’ in civil society. One
minority party did not accept his offer of a cabinet post. The
President's first major objective was to end the rebel war which, in
four years had already claimed hundreds of innocent lives, driven
thousands of others into refugee status, and ruined the nation's
economy. In November 1996, in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, Kabbah signed a
peace agreement with the rebel leader, former Corporal Foday Sankoh of
the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

The
rebels reneged on the Agreement, resumed hostilities, and later
perpetrated on the people of Sierra Leone what has been described as one
of the most brutal internal conflicts in the world.

In
1996, a coup attempt involving Johnny Paul Koroma and other junior
officers of the Sierra Leone Army was unsuccessful, but served as notice
that Kabbah's control over military and government officials in
Freetown was weakening.

In
May 1997, a military coup forced Kabbah into exile in neighboring
Guinea. The coup was led by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, and
Koroma was freed and installed as the head of state. In his Guinea
exile, Kabbah began to marshal international support. Just nine months
after the coup, Kabbah's government was revived as the military-rebel
junta was removed by troops of the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) under the command of the Nigerian led ECOMOG (ECOWAS
Ceasefire Monitoring Group) and loyal civil and military defense forces,
notably the Kamajos led by Samuel Hinga Norman. Once
again, in pursuit of peace, President Kabbah signed the Lome Peace
Accord with the RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh on July 7, 1999.
Notwithstanding repeated violations by the RUF, the document, known as
the Lomé Peace Agreement, remained the cornerstone of sustainable peace,
security, justice and national reconciliation in Sierra Leone. On
January 18, 2002, at a ceremony marking the conclusion of the
disarmament and demobilization of ex-combatants under the auspices of
the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), he declared that
the rebel war was over.Although
elected as president, he faced the task of fighting a brutal enemy. His
most crucial military support was however from outside. Nigeria was the
foremost participant as they crucially intervened under the leadership
of the late General Sani Abacha, who was then the military head of his
country. On February 1998, he sent his troops to push out the infamous
military junta and rebel alliance of Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam
Bockarie, known as Maskita. The rebels, however, continued their attempt
to dethrone Kabbah's government, despite signing numerous peace accords
with President Kabbah. In May 2000, Foday Saybanah Sankoh, who was then
part of Kabbah's cabinet, kidnapped several UN troops, and then ordered
his rebels to march to Freetown. Trouble was looming as the capital was
once more threatened with another January 6, 1999 scenario. But with
the timely intervention of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, 800
British troops were sent to Freetown to halt the impending rebel march
to the city. President Kabbah was very grateful to the British Prime
Minister, calling his intervention "timely" and one that "Sierra Leonean
people will never forget".

As
president, Kabbah opened direct negotiations with the RUF rebels in
order to end the civil war. He signed several peace accords with the
rebel leader Foday Sankoh, including the 1999 Lome Peace Accord, in
which the rebels, for the first time agreed to a temporary cease fire
with the Sierra Leone government. When the cease fire agreement with the
rebels virtually collapsed, Kabbah campaigned for international
assistant from the British, the United Nations Security Council, the
African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to help
defeat the rebels and restored peace and order in Sierra Leone.

In
October 1999, the United Nations agreed to send peacekeepers to help
restore order and disarm the rebels. The first of the 6,000-member force
began arriving in December, and the United Nations Security Council
voted in February 2000 to increase the force to 11,000, and later to
13,000. The UN peacekeeping forces were made up mainly of soldiers from
the British special forces, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The African
Union special forces sent to Sierra Leone to assist the government in
fighting the rebels were made up mainly of soldiers from Nigeria,
Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Zambia and The Gambia. The international
forces, led by the British troops, launched many successful military
operations in repelling the RUF rebels and retook many of the areas of
the country that were under the rebel control. The rebel lines of
communication were severely destroyed and many senior rebel leaders were
captured or fled the country, including the RUF leader Foday Sankoh,
who was captured.

The
fragile rebels finally agreed to be dissarmed. In return the Sierra
Leone government, lead by Kabbah, offered the rebels amnesty, career
opportunities and mental institutions. The child rebels were reinstated
in public schools, also offered mental institutions and reunited with
family members. In 2001, United Nation forces moved in rebel-held areas
and began to dissarm the rebels.

The
civil war was officially declared over in early 2002 by Kabbah. Tens of
thousands of Sierra Leoneans across the country took to the streets
celebrating the end of the war. Kabbah went on to easily win his final
five year term in office in the presidential election later that year
with 70.1% of the vote, defeating his main opponent Ernest Bai Koroma of
the main opposition All People's Congress (APC). International
observers declared the election free and fair.As
the first leader after the civil war, Kabbah's main task was to disarm
the different parties involved in the war and to build unity of the
country. Time magazine called Kabbah a "diamond in the rough"
for his success as the first civilian elected ruler of Sierra Leone in
34 years and his role in the end of what became a decade long conflict
from 1992 until 2000. Although he himself was not considered corrupt,
Kabbah was accused of an inability to deal with corrupt officials in his
government many of whom were said to be profiting from the diamond
trade. Kabbah struggled with this problem and invited the British to
help set up an anti-corruption commission.

Kabbah
left office in September 2007 at the end of his second 5-year term.
Constitutionally, he was not eligible to seek re-election. His
Vice-President, Solomon Berewa, ran as the SLPP candidate to succeed
Kabbah but was defeated by the opposition candidate Ernest Bai Koroma of
the APC.

Kabbah
was the head of the Commonwealth's observer mission for the December
2007 Kenyan election, as well as the head of the African Union's
observer mission for the March 2008 Zimbabwean election.

Kabbah
died at his residential home in Juba Hill, a middle class neighborhood
in the west end of Freetown at the age of 82 on March 13, 2014, after a
short illness. Following the announcement of Kabbah's death, Sierra
Leone's president Ernest Bai Koroma declared a week of national
mourning; and he ordered the country's flags to be flown at half mast
throughout Sierra Leone.

A
state funeral was held for Kabbah. Kabbah's funeral service was
attended by several former Heads of State, international delegations,
former and current government officials, regardless of their political
paties, and members of the civil services.

On
March 21, 2014, Kabbah's casket was carried by soldiers of the Sierra
Leone Armed Forces into the Sierra Leone House of Parliament were
members of parliament paid their last respects to the former Head of
State. On March 23, 2014 Kabbah's casket was brought to the National
Stadium, as thousands of Sierra Leoneans lined the streets of Freetown
to say goodbye to their former leader. Kabbah's body was then carried by
soldiers to the Mandingo Central Mosque in Freetown where an Islamic
prayer service was held before he was finally laid to rest at the Kissi
Road Cemetery, next to his mother Hajah Adama Kabbah's grave.

Kabbah's
wife Patricia, an ethnic Sherbro, died in 1998. They had five
children: Mariama, Abu, Michael, Isata and Tejan Jr., and three
grandchildren: Simone, Isata, and Aidan.

Ka‘b, BanuKa‘b, Banu (Banu Ka‘b).Arab tribe which occupies, at present, parts of Khuzistan in Southwestern Iran.Like other Arab tribes inhabiting Iran, they mingled with the Non-Arab population and began to slowly lose their Arab identity.Banu Ka'b see Ka‘b, Banu

Ka’b ibn ZuhayrKa’b ibn Zuhayr. Arab poet and contemporary of the Prophet.He at first wrote some satirical verses against the Prophet, but later accepted Islam by reciting his famous piece known as “Su‘ad has departed,” which is an authentic example of the eulogistic poetry of the period.

Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr was a pagan in the time of Muḥammad, the eldest son of Zuhayr ibn Abî Sûlmâ, and one of six men who refused the prophet's attempts to convert them.

Presenting a poem entitled the Bdnat Sudd to the Prophet, he was rewarded with the mantle that Muhammad was wearing (the burda), and converted to Islam.

Kabīr(Arabic for "Great") was a legendary Indian saint.Over the centuries so many stories have been attached to the name of Kabir that even the dates of his life are uncertain.Kabir has become more than a historical figure.He is a symbol of religious tolerance and serves as an example of the possibility of synthesis between Islam and Hinduism.

Kabir was the son of a Muslim weaver and his wife in North India.Later Hindu writers sought to remove this stigma of low birth by claiming Kabir was an avatar -- a miracle child conceived by the word or God.Alternatively, some claimed that Kabir was like the infant Moses, a baby found floating on a lotus leaf in a pond.

As a youth living in the sacred Hindu city of Benares, Kabir was greatly influenced by Hinduism, so much so that Kabir became fond of chanting the divine name of Rama.This practice not only infuriated the Muslims, who were firmly opposed to polytheism, but it also irritated the Hindus because they considered such chanting on the part of a non-Hindu to be a grave blasphemy.

Traditions of the yogi Gorakhnath and his successors’ teaching strengthened Kabir’s conviction of the value of subjective experience of God, and of the uselessness of esoteric theory and outward observances.However, Kabir was led to reject the doctrine of Ram as an avatar of Vishnu and to see in Ram rather a divine principle, independent of creed, with which all other gods might be equated.The influence of Muslim Sufi mysticism is also evident in Kabir’s thought, where it reinforces the spirit of bhakti or loving devotion to the divine which he had inherited from Vaisnavism.

Kabir came to reject all outward forms of religion.Scriptures, the concept of caste, idolatry, and elaborate rituals were all discarded by Kabir.Instead, Kabir preached a simple love of God.It is obvious that he was influenced by the Sufi sect of Islam.However, Kabir purposely avoided religious labels of any kind.Kabir’s beliefs were expressed more in his actions than in any detailed theology.For example, legend has it that his chosen guru, Swami Ramanand, once sent Kabir to fetch cow’s milk to be offered to the ancestors.The disciple disappeared for some time and was finally discovered seated by a dead cow to which he had been trying to feed a handful of grass.The startled Ramanand asked Kabir the meaning of his odd behavior.Ramanand remarked “Surely you must know that a dead cow cannot eat grass or give milk.”Kabir replied, “If a recently deceased cow cannot eat, how can your long-dead ancestors drink the milk you intend to offer them?”

Kabir’s beliefs were incorporated into his poems.His choice of vocabulary borrowed freely from both Sanskrit and Persian, just as Kabir’s beliefs combined the best of Hinduism and Islam.Kabir’s simple philosophy is summed up in the following verses:

"I do not ring the temple bell: I do not set the idol on its throne: I do not worship the image with flowers. It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are pleasing to the Lord. When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not please the Lord: The man who is kind and who practices righteousness, who remains passive amidst the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self, he attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him."

Kabir’s poetry is the expression of his religious eclecticism.He probably taught only orally, and the canon of his works is uncertain.Three collections written in a mixture of Hindi dialects are generally considered authentic: the Bijak (“Account Book”), a collection in the Sikh Adi Granth, and the Granthavali (“Collected Writings”).These poems are in rhyming couplets and a variety of other stanzas.Their style is often rough and their themes obscure in detail, but they can express their author’s broad religious convictions with great effectiveness.

During Kabir’s lifetime, a religious community of monks and nuns (the Kabir Panth) was organized to preserve Kabir’s teachings on tolerance and on the perfect love of God.

Kabira see Kabir"The Great" see Kabir

KadazanKadazan.A people who were formerly known as Dusun, a group of closely related peoples living in western Sabah, Malaysia.Most Kadazans grow wet rice on the coastal plains or in upland valleys, but some practice shifting cultivation.Long contact and intermarriage with Malayo-Muslim coastal peoples and, more recently, with Chinese and Europeans have greatly modified traditional Kadazan culture.Many have embraced Islam or Christianity, but a proportion still practices the traditional religion.Efforts by coastal Kadazan leaders since the 1950s to promote a stronger socio-political unity have been only partly successful.Today, many Kadazans are active in politics, government, business, or other professions.

The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Dusun ethnic group, and also because of other political initiatives, a new unified term called "Kadazan-dusun" was created. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah.

Abu al-Misk Kafur, also called al-Laithi, al-Suri, al-Labi was a dominant personality of Ikhshidid Egypt and Syria. Originally a black slave from Ethiopia, he was promoted as vizier of Egypt, becoming its de facto ruler (from 946). After the death of his master, Muhammad bin Tughj, Kafur succeeded the latter to become the de jure ruler of the Ikshidid domains, Egypt and southern Syria (including Damascus), until his death in 968.

Muhammad bin Tughj, the founder of the Ikhshidid dynasty of Egypt, bought Abu al-Misk Kafur as a slave from Ethiopia in 923. He is recorded as having a dark complexion and being a eunuch. Recognizing the slave's intelligence and talent, ibn Tughj freed him. The story goes that Kafur was freed because he kept his eyes fastened upon his master, while others kept their eyes on the master's gifts.

Ibn Tughj appointed Kafur to be the supervisor of princely education for his two sons. The Egyptian ruler then promoted Kafur as a military officer. As a field commander, Kafur conducted a military mission to Syria in 945. He was put in charge of some campaigns in the Hejaz. Kafur was involved in some diplomatic exchanges between the Ikhshidids and the caliph of Baghdad.

Kafur became the de-facto ruler of Egypt in 946. (Since al-Misk was the guardian of bin Tughj's sons, al-Misk ruled in their stead upon the death of their father.) He died in Cairo and was probably buried in Jerusalem. Though subsequent historians have portrayed him as a just and moderate ruler, he owes a great deal of his fame to the scathing satirical poems directed against him by Al-Mutanabbi, the most famous Arab poet.

Kafur's status as former slave did not hinder him from rising to power under the Ikhshidids. In fact, his status helped him, as it had become customary for former slaves to enter the military organization and even reach high positions in it. Kafur's rise to power, from being an African slave to the ruler of Egypt and parts of Syria, is one of the first examples in Islamic history of a sovereign with the lowliest of origins. In Muslim states in general, Africans such as Kafur did not continue to be slaves. They were employed in various occupations and maintained a cohesive culture interacting with that of their hosts.

While Kafur held de facto control over Egypt, he operated behind the facade of Ikhshdid rulers. On his deathbed, ibn Tughj appointed Kafur as guardian over his two sons. In 946, Kafur helped Anūdjūr secure the succession to ibn Tughj. And in 961, he helped ʿAlī ibn al-Ikhshīd Anūdjūr's younger brother (and his late master ibn Tughj's second) secure the Egyptian throne. Only in 966, following the death of ʿAlī, did Kāfūr publicly declare himself as the sole master of Egypt.

Kafur, despite tremendous pressure on him, maintained stability inside Egypt. From 947-948, he fought and put down the rebellion by Ghalbūn. In 954, he successfully averted an abortive coup d'état by Anūdjūr. He also survived the spread of subversive Ismāʿīlī propaganda against him. His ability to resolve internal political complications is considered as having signnificantly prolonged the lifespan of the Ikhshidids.

One of Abu al-Misk Kafur's greatest achievements is his successful protection of the Ikhshidid establishment from the Hamdanids (in Syria), Fatimids (in northern Africa, to the west of Egypt), Qarmatians (in the Arabian peninsula), and the Nubians (from south of Egypt).

Very early on Kafur's master, Muhammad ibn Tughj, trusted him to handle the military campaigns of Syria and Hejaz (in the Arabian peninsula). His military and diplomatic measures secured Damascus for the Ikhshidids (from the Hamdanids) in 947. Sayf ad-Dawla, governor of Aleppo, tried to run over Syria, but his efforts were frustrated by Kafur, and the former recognized the latter's lordship over parts of Syria.

He was also able to delay the Fatimid expansion into Egypt, frustrating the efforts of the latter's agents. So long as Kafur was alive, the Ikhsidid establishment kept the Fatimids at bay; upon his death, the Fatimids took over.

* a fire devastated the business section of Fustat in 954;* a major earthquake rocked Egypt in 955;* recurrence of food-price inflation (sometimes resulting in famine), and consequent civil disturbances, in 949, 952, 955, and 963-968.

Excepting the heavy government expenditure, Kafur's administration refrained from extortionate fiscal practices. His gold coinage displayed remarkable stability, though it did fluctuate. Kafur also enrolled the services of competent administrators, and merchants, (such as the famous Yaqub ibn Killis), contributing to his economic accomplishments.

Abu al-Misk Kafur gained popularity by being the patron of scholars and writers. Perhaps the most celebrated patronage is that of the great poet al-Mutanabbi. In return al-Mutanabbi praised the former slave. However, after Kafur's failure to reward him with high office that he aspired, al-Mutanabbi ridiculed Kafur. Thus Kafur was immortalized in the poetry of al-Mutanabbi - the greatest poet of Kafur's time.

As he was a pious man, Kafur was more comfortable with the ulema than the poets. He surrounded himself with religious men, some of whom he showered with gifts. He constructed two mosques (in Giza and on al-Muqattam) and a hospital. Nevertheless he still clung to superstitions, abandoning a home once, believing it to be under a jinn.

Kafur also maintained a magnificent and luxurious court. This, however, at times of famine, accorded poorly with the general population. In addition to the mosques and the hospital, Kafur had constructed a number of sumptuous palaces, and the Kāfūriyya gardens in his capital. No archaeological remains of his contributions have been thus far found.

Malik Kafur (fl. 1296 - 1316), was a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 A.D. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat. Alauddin Khilji fell in love with the effeminate beauty of Malik Kafur, castrated him and converted him to Islam. Kafur was also called "Thousand Dinar Kafur", probably the amount paid by the sultan for his possession. Kafur rose quickly in the army. He was made malik naib, the senior commander of the army. In 1294 he led the sultan's army against the capital city of the Yadava kingdom, Devagiri. He led further invasions southward into the Kakatiya dynasty, winning immense riches for the sultanate and sacking many Hindu temples.

The booty from Warangal included the famous diamond Koh-i-Noor. During the course of the attack he sacked and plundered many Hindu temples including the famous Hoyasaleshwara temple in Halebidu.

According to Muslim historian Jiauddin Barani, Kafur came back to Delhi with 241 tons of gold, 20,000 horses and 612 elephants laden with the looted treasure.

Malik Kafur see Kafur, Malik"Thousand Dinar Kafur" see Kafur, Malik

Kahina, al-Kahina, al- (d. 698).The Arabic word means “the sorceress” and indicates the woman who was the guiding spirit of Berber resistance to the Arab invaders who were led into North Africa by Hassan ibn al-Nu‘man after the collapse of Byzantine power marked by the fall of Carthage in 692.

After the destruction of Carthage, the mountain people of the Aures (Algeria), who had fiercely fought for their independence against the Vandals and the Byzantines during the preceding two hundred years, rose up in revolt against the Arabs under the leadership of a woman the Arabs called “al-Kahina” – “the sorceress.”Reasoning that the Arabs were only interested in her country’s wealth, al-Kahina decided to pursue a scorched earth policy.Al-Kahina ordered her followers to cut down all the trees of the Aures in hopes that if she turned her land into a desert, the Arabs would leave.The deforestation ordered by al-Kahina did help to create the desert which is the legacy that remains today.

As for the Arabs, the desert had always been their home, and al-Kahina’s strategy failed.Al-Kahina, unable to surrender herself but seeing that the Arabs were not going to leave advised her sons to join the Arabs -- which they ultimately did.

Al-Kāhina (Classical Arabic for "female seer"; modern Maghreb Arabic l-Kahna, commonly romanised as Kah(i)na, also known as Dihya or Kahya) was a 7th century female Berber religious and military leader, who led indigenous resistance to Arab expansion in Northwest Africa, the region then known as Numidia, known as the Maghreb today. She was born in the early 7th century and died around the end of the 7th century probably in modern day Algeria.

Her real name was said to be Dihyā, Dahyā or Damiya (the Arabic spellings are difficult to distinguish between these variants). al-Kāhinat (the female soothsayer) was the nickname used by her Muslim opponents because of her reputed ability to foresee the future.

Over four centuries after her death, Tunisian hagiographer al-Mālikī seems to have been among the first to state she resided in the Aurès Mountains. Just on seven centuries after her death, the pilgrim at-Tijani was told she belonged to the Lūwāta tribe. When the later historian Ibn Khaldun came to write his account, he placed her with the Jrāwa tribe.

According to various sources, l-Kahna was the daughter of Tabat, or some say Mātiya. These sources depend on tribal genealogies, which were generally concocted for political reasons during the 9th century.

Accounts from the nineteenth century on claim she was a Jew or that her tribe were Judaized Berbers, though scholars dispute this. According to al-Mālikī she was said to have been accompanied in her travels by what the Arabs called an "idol", possibly an icon of the Virgin or one of the Christian saints, but certainly not something associated with Jewish religious customs.

Dihyā may have been of mixed descent: Berber and Byzantine Christian, since one of her sons is described as a 'yunani' or Greek.[9]

Ibn Khaldun records many legends about l-Kahna. A number of them refer to her long hair or great size, both legendary characteristics of sorcerers. She is also supposed to have had the gift of prophecy and she had three sons, which is characteristic of witches in legends. Even the fact that two were her own and one was adopted (an Arab officer she had captured), was an alleged trait of sorcerers in tales. Another legend claims that in her youth, she had supposedly freed her people from a tyrant by agreeing to marry him and then murdering him on their wedding night. Virtually nothing else of her personal life is known.

The Sorceress see Kahina, al-Dihya see Kahina, al-Kahya see Kahina, al-l-Kahna see Kahina, al-

KakuyidsKakuyids (Kakwayhids).Dynasty of Daylami origin which ruled over part of west-central Persia (Jibal) during the first half of the eleventh century as virtually independent sovereigns, and thereafter for more than a century as local lords of Yazd, in Fars, tributary to the Saljuqs.The greatest member of the dynasty was ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Muhammad (r.1008-1041).

The Kakūyids (also called Kakwayhids) were a Daylamite (Northern Iranian people) dynasty that held power in Isfahān (c. 1008–c. 1051). They were also the ātābegs (governors) of Yazd and Abarkūh from c. 1051 to the mid-12th century.

The Kakūyids were given control of Isfahān in or before 1008 by the Sayyida, who held the regencies of her young Būyid sons Majd al-Daula of Ray and Shams al-Daula of Hamadān. The man who was given the administration of the city was Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula ibn Kakūya, who was a cousin of Majd al-Daula on his mother's side. Over time, he effectively became independent of Būyid control.

At times Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula acted as an ally of the Būyids; when Shams al-Daula was faced with a revolt in Hamadān, for example, he turned to the Kakūyid for helped. Shortly after Shams al-Daula died and was succeeded by Samā' al-Daula, however, the Kakūyids invaded and took control of Hamadan in 1023 or 1024. They then moved on and seized Ḥulwān from the 'Annāzids. The Būyid Musharrif al-Daula, who ruled over Fars and Iraq, forced the Kakūyids to withdraw from Ḥulwān, but they retained Hamadān. Peace was made between the two sides, and a matrimonial alliance was eventually arranged.

Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula was succeeded in 1041 by his son Farāmurz, while in Hamadān another Kakūyid, Garshasp I Abū Kālījār 'Alā' al-Daula, took power. Farāmurz's reign was cut short by the Seljuks, who after a year-long siege of Isfahān took the city in 1051 or 1052. Despite this, Farāmurz was given Yazd and Abarkūh in fief by the Seljuks. The Kakūyids remained the governors of these provinces until sometime in the mid-12th century; their rule during this time was known for the construction of mosques, canals and fortifications.